a real good life

after the renaissance, logic and "free thinking" have overcome just about every control society has had on the world. weve formed governments that represent the people, weve made life easier with technology, and created the middle class all of which made life "better" in most concrete aspects. but with the "improvements" came the dangers of powerful technology and eventually weaponry. besides that, capitalist empires have gotten our "representative" governments in a strangle-hold where they're no better than a socialist ideology with puppets for presidents. our political leaders dont listen to the populace, markets are becoming sudo-monopolies uncontrollable by the buyers, and institutions like the public education system create a linear lifestyle that puts a price tag on the "american dream." weve created a society where everything has a price and life is still a matter of survival. after thousands of years of societal growth, war, and reform we have improved nothing. for most there isnt a point in life where work stops and you begin enjoying life, its simply everyones goal to survive, make their own small fortune, and eventually improve through reproduction. the only improvement weve accomplished since the dark ages is in medicine. wars are just as terrible, life is just as hard, and governments just as oppressive.

which brings up the question: whats better, the simple, pious, agrarian life of the 1500s or the complex, capitalist empire that is the present day?