Instrumental rationality

Many years now since the Frankfurt School identified instrumental rationality as the pulsating heartbeat of modernity, we are hurtling still forwards into being gripped firmer and firmer by this as being the predominant way of life. In the 24 hour news, internet driven age we are bombarded by figures, charts, graphs, showing progress or regress in whatever specified time period, rarely ever more than a year. This adds a subconscious pressure for anyone and everyone to constantly justify what they are up to and measure their progress in life.
There must be a point when we need to say we are living comfortably enough to not constantly still strive for more linear progress. In this era where we have no unified God the easiest measurable progress is money, and hence why we have newspapers crying murder over the fact GDP growth is stalling, property prices are falling and the value of the currency depreciating. In everyday life people are forever boasting how much material goods they have.
What is important is for more people to look inside themselves and really get to know who they are. There is both an inner self and an outer self. The outer self aims to fit in, aims to be part of society, while the inner self is composed of biologically ordained urges and wishes, but also accumulated morality and wisdom. Both are important to the formation of the individual, but so eager are we to fit in in the modern age, for that is the easiest way to reach measurable goals, be it get the dream job, get the dream girl or get the dream house, that many people now have an outer self that is corroding their inner selves, and those who are in touch with their inner selves either to have to fall into the cliché of religion, or be seen as lunatics.