Economical thinking?

Classical economics (as now generally practiced by the functional elites of industrial
societies) seems to be a curious form of mystical utilitarianism. Somehow, short-term
gain for the greatest number of people will result in the greatest happiness for
everyone. Obsessed with materialism and techno-worship (masquerading as "progress"),
it is the lowest, most superstitious form of romanticism. Belief (or more commonly
desperate pretense of belief) in the results of linear, fact-based progress seems
purely a managerial tactic of an elite that sees the public as something to be managed.
The citizenry must be constantly reassured that everything is under control, and
therefore safe and therefore something to be praised (with votes, public funding, and
what have you). However, certainty and inevitability are two of the things which are
never certain or inevitable.

Thus materialism is a constant barrier to scientific progress (to say nothing of human
progress).