Profit above all else is how the world has worked for centuries. You're right it's what brought us where we are. We have an increasing ceiling of education, the greatest overall mobility (socially and spatially), vast swathes of entertainment and communication, at least outside of some nations where there's a major problem politically and socially. People are not going to give up that comfortable society they've become accustomed to. Unless you can make this change immediately profitable, which is unlike most change, people are not going to accept it.