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‪A society is modern when it operates in a mode of dynamic stabilization, i.e., when it systematically requires growth, innovation and acceleration in order to maintain its socio-economic and institutional status quo‪. ‪Within this frame, this essay presents an analysis of modern society that explains the structural features which lead into this escalatory cycle. Secondly, it identifies the corresponding cultural “imperatives for growth” that translate the structural requirement of growth, acceleration and innovation into a strategic necessity in the humans’ search for a good life. Thirdly, it presents an alternative conception of the good life, based on the concept of resonance, which also proves to be an indispensable tool for a critique of social conditions.