The book Sapiens argues that tech has made us less happy ever since the invention of farming 10,000 years ago, the hunter gatherers were happier and healthier than the farm villagers. But since tech allows the population density to grow we get stuck in "the luxury trap", we can't go backwards or a bunch of people will die. And the unhappier larger village is more powerful than the hunter gatherers so they have an evolutionary advantage.

I think you could apply a similar theory to the modern capitalist world.