” losing patents altogether would ironically be unable to stop progress.”
So... you think that people will spend the time and money to create new technology that others can simply take at will?
Ever heard of the fashion industry?
People innovate in pursuit of profit, not exclusivity. This is perfectly demonstrated by the fact that almost no inventors wind up owning the patent for the inventions they create. Most patents are owned by the companies that employ those who do the innovating. Yet those engineers and scientists and others keep on working.
Only certain types of economic activities can benefit from patents and the patent system tends to redirect investment into those areas. But that is a distortion of the market. Who is to say what would have been done with those investments if the economy had not been distorted to favor patentable innovations?
That’s happening defacto.