What is progress? Many people will define progress as increasing wealth. It could be combined with decreasing inequality as well. Some will bundle in life expectancy in addition to the first two. Obviously, it is better if we are richer, if nobody is left behind, and we live longer. However, are these the variables that determine our happiness? This is questionable. For instance, if we are quite wealthy but everybody around us is wealthier than us, would our wealth still make us happy? Anecdotal evidence suggests that it would not. Therefore, we need to be wealthier than the people around us to be happy about our wealth, which contradicts with the second parameter we defined. We cannot be wealthier than our neighbors and still expect the inequality to improve. It is not easy to make our lives longer. Are we as a species progressing forward?
I would argue that progress is only possible if we turn our attention inside. If we stop amassing objects, certificates, titles, likes, and other belongings, finally we can start looking at who we are.