[carapace]

I agree.

E.g. the Communists insist they are benefiting the Tibetans.

Or consider the native Hawaiians vs. the telescope on their sacred volcano Mauna Kea.

Without establishing the greater context "progress" is a shiboleth.

Wendell Berry has an essay, "What are People For?", that's worth reading in this connexion.

The simplest way to encounter the issue is be asking yourself, as a two-year old would, "And then what..? And then what..? And then what..?"