I'm not sure that I agree that we're here thanks to the system. We're here thanks primarily to a biological process and secondly due to the support of our families and communities. All the things you mention, such as science and education, etc, are not inherent to the economic system we have. I mean there must be a way of meeting all of the needs of humans while still evolving in all aspects of human endeavour, without having to have an economic system which puts a monetary value on what a person must produce in order to survive.

"The system" that precedes us is humanity's attempt at "civilization" thus far.

Agreed. And more and more I feel this is by no means the pinnacle of what we can achieve as a technological civilization. I measure this (and this whole topic came to mind) by how happy people around me are. I have lost count of how many people I know work jobs they don't like in order to survive. It's a sort of economic slavery where money is the leverage to keep people in a 9-6pm occupation doing non-fulfilling tasks that drives them to depression.

You could argue that people are free to change professions to do whatever they like but what if what they like isn't economically viable? The economic system has decided what things are and aren't valuable and therefore people must gravitate towards things that pay rather than those things they enjoy doing.

I have had conversations with several work colleagues and friends who are incredibly unhappy with life (some on anti-depressants) but can't put the finger on why. They all agree that they feel subjugated to live in a way that doesn't full fill them but they don't know how to change while still meeting the financial expectations the system has of them. Hence my question and mental exercise came up, why must we have to work to exist? Is this not a form of slavery? And how could we change "humanity's attempt at civilization" to provide for human happiness and fulfilment instead of financial capital?