The less people compete for status as consumers, the more they compete for statu

The less people compete for status as consumers, the more they compete for status by other means. While competing for status increases consumption which decreases prices and increases employment, the only reason we need increase employment and decrease prices is because we are engaging in increases in consumer production but not increases in innovation. In other words, there are two kinds of productivity increases: the kind that comes from consumption (population increases) and the kind that comes from innovation (regardless of population increases). So what this means is that we are working very hard to get dumber and more numerous?