Sure no one like to be wrong, so to argue with is necessary to spark interest in the search of alternative point of view.

Remembering Hagakure: "To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not. One must become close with him and make sure that he continually trusts one's word." ..... "Have him receive this in the way that a man would drink water when his throat is dry, and it will be an opinion that will correct faults."

Words from a more civilized ages.

Probably in the past minds can contemplate things we are not more aware today, who know? is not all about rational and scientific thinking, is not more or less advanced, is simply different, and in the past humans needed a quite different set of ideas and tools than today.

Just travel to Papua-NewGuinea and check with some tribe in a lost valley, straigh from Neolythic, some does not have a concept of "3", but children can learn arithmetic as everyone else, they can contemplate every concept we have, given the right path.

Ok, this is the situation, but seems to me that few biggest holders in pratice has real control, within the complexity of the financial systems that shade the complexity of true ownership, and the wide public ownership, because the fragmentation, has no real control, only the benefits, if any, and this is the trick.

But the core question, to me, is: it is a real value? the shares/speculation market is more than ten times the real economy, it is safe? I doubt.

Look at SpaceX public shares, are 5%, the rest? Musk and others few financial actors.

We live in a more complex world, this produce someting more complex, culture, ideas, knowledge, tasks, technology, craps.. but basic intelligence i think is the same (if not better in the past, less "pollution")

but refleting uppon: maybe "aliens" are another name for a kind of ignorance spreading around. basic science and history simply gone. Not so funny to think about.

In the hands of such small elite individuals is even worse, because financial activity at this levels call for deregulations more and more, and without clear rules the effects on all the ordinary people are big and real, the "pile of money" is the real money missing in the lives of all the rest of the world.

Big wealths are ok, but when some (millions) are (quite) missing the basic for living, i think some adjustments are needed.

Car with motors burning fossil fuels are (probably, hopefully) doomed. But a combustion engine using synthetic-fuels made with CO2 + solar energy can play a role, like a small compact light co-generator parallel at battery pack onboard.

Chemical storage of solar/wind energy can be an option more than battery tech, other than recapturing and storing CO2.

More seriously (very little indeed) maybe the 'problem' is all those activities that need to create more and more new problems/disorders to justify all the work uppon, so what if psychiatry is a psychiatric disorder? regressum ad infinitum, take the red pill.

About happiness, Buddha, asked about the way to happines, say: happiness is not the destination, is the way.

Exageration, the quite mayority of mathematician live very well with infinity, just handle with care.