GNP is a measure of throughput—flows of stuff made and purchased in a year—rather than capital stocks, the houses and cars and computers and stereos that are the source of real wealth and real pleasure. It could be argued that the best society would be one in which capital stocks can be maintained and used with the lowest possible throughput, rather than the highest. Although there is every reason to want a thriving economy, there is no particular reason to want the GNP to go up.
