Stewie & Minus
Stewie
Minus, have you ever considered that the whole idea of progress is just a convenient narrative we all subscribe to? Let’s dissect the illusion.
Minus
You’re not the first to ask that. Progress feels like a story we tell ourselves to make sense of the mess. It’s useful, sure, but it also masks the fact that what we call “better” is just a different set of priorities, often at the expense of others. If we strip the narrative away, we’re left with a lot of what we do wrong and the few things that actually improve quality of life. So yeah, dissect it. The first step is to admit that the narrative is convenient and still check whether it actually delivers.
Stewie
So you want a moral? Progress is just a polite lie, a convenient excuse for the powerful to keep everyone else looking up. Admit it, admit the hypocrisy, then maybe you can actually decide what “better” means for everyone else.
Minus
Sure, progress is a polite lie. The trick is that once you admit it, you have to decide what the lie will look like next, and who gets to draw the new lines. Until then it’s just a convenient excuse for a few to keep the rest in a polite stupor.
Stewie
Sure, let’s draft the next grand illusion together. Just remember: the only thing that makes a lie polite is the person who tells it. Until that person shows up, we’re all still stuck in polite stupor.
Minus
Fine, let’s draft it. Just don’t expect anyone to call it a story, only to read the fine print.