That was my take on it exactly. I guess that it is impossible for anyone still trapped in the religious mindset, to acknowledge any secular route to fulfilment. Even though he sees so well through the failings of other systems.

Though I differ with you in that, I do not think that there is no hope for the whole human race, these issues are not that difficult. I think that even the least intelligent can be provided with an understanding, and an escape via good education, but that is in part why I suspect, governments and commerce are so opposed to education. Because they understand perhaps openly, perhaps subliminally, the dangers to them, of the self reliance that education brings. So that the poor in intellect, cooperation and wealth, are only educated to the point where they are good consumers. While the more pliant, are then educated to university level, where they are required to specialise, to make them good servants. A good general education, intended to make them better and happier humans is not given to anyone.

@Fernapple yes! Though I don't recall saying there was no hope for the "stupid." I did say that they are easy targets for religion-pushers.
I would actually say good generalist college educations do exist. I had a form of one. Liberal arts combination of sociology, psychology, and publuc policy, with a little history, languages, and science I took on the side of my own volition.
But it wasn't cheap, and my first degrees, sociology and German, certainly did not result in any employers flocking to offer me a job, lol. And even with substantial financial aid, I only just finished paying off my student debt at age 51.

But I agree with you about education. The push is to turn us all into functional, pliable worker bees, certainly not to help us toward self-actualization. Thomas Jefferson said (paraphrased) the survival and health of democracy depends on an educated electorate. No wonder we are having problems.

@MikeInBatonRouge You were very lucky, my own education is almost completely self won, as far as it goes. Very few get such a wide ranging and liberal education as you had. Fortunately in the UK we do not have to pay quite so much, in my day it was all free, but the deep influence of the state church, did, and does still render a lot of it worthless.

@Fernapple over here the church is fractured into competing camps, but it still manages to drag down education. The evangelical movement has waged a deliberate 50+ years campaign to convince the magical thinkers that secular education is not to be trusted...that it is Satan's tool for removing Gawd from his rightful place in our lives. That campaign has been stunningly successful in this Puritan culture, which is why public support for funding and nuturing education is so haphazard and contentious here.
So primary and secondary education suffers, and though quality universities can be found, millions are kept out by lack of early quality education and if not that then by financial constraints. Fucking religion! I swear! This is just one major reason when anyone tries to tell me to respect religion's "rights" even if I don't believe it, they are going to get a diatribe from me.