I suppose I should have clarified by advancement I meant in the sense of knowledge. I would argue your point of human advancement not being based on material things as the more we learn the easier things become and as a result we adapt our beliefs. Cars make us lazy, internet makes us socially recede, etc.P1p3s said:but is not the guarentee of safety/ the perception of these nations in and of itself a delusion.
I love your last question and my only answer is (maddeningly) another question, what is advancement?
If you determine being 'advanced' as technological I really don't see how we can do this without detrimentally affecting the world at large. Convenience has been the root of most of our 'advancements' by that definition "need is the mother of all invention" as they say. If you count advancement as something more introspective, mental, spiritual etc then the answer is immaterial, no seriously thats the answer, a material nature will only further exponetially increase the 'stuff' in our lives and our desire for 'stuff' granted I'm talking more about a western greed but it's born out of their 'fear induced ideologies' as you put it, adding to the delusion because true materialism is just another mechanism to control the masses.
Take for instance just about any country which doesn't rely on technology. I had just read in a thread that in some countries a set of twins where one is male and one is female are married at birth because they believe that the children were having sex inside the womb. Without medical or scientific knowledge people continue to cling to their traditions and their beliefs where as in America being one of the advanced countries we have moved forward into people being very introspective and thus uncomfortable and thus delusional.
If you can agree on that point then it brings us back to the question as to how we can continue to advance without social disintegration?