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#5 Platform - The Progress Paradox
Feb. 1st, 2009 02:57 pmI'm still happy, but it seems like lots of people aren't.
Book #1: The Progress Paradox
Author: Gregg Easterbrook
Provenance: Received from Bookmooch
One of the problems of our age, particularly in the more affluent parts of the world, is that while life is really much better in many ways than it was in the past, people are on the whole getting less happy; certainly, there hasn't been much of a rise in happiness in First World countries, and depression has gone up a lot. Easterbrook's book is an attempt to argue both of these: things really have gotten better, even if it seems like they may have gotten worse, and that people really aren't happier about it. Then, he's got some ideas about where to go from here, to make the world better still and people happier in the process.
You don't have to buy his arguments, but he does make them pretty persuasively. It's true, the world is a lot better off than 50-100 years ago. Living standards have gone up on almost all measures, most of the problems of the past have been solved, people work less than they used to, live longer and retire earlier, get better educations and have more freedoms. To Easterbrook's credit, he does admit that not all problems have been solved, and that they still need more work: there's still more poverty in Western culture than we should allow, still more hunger, still too many people without health coverage. But on the whole, things do seem to be getting better.
But then, why are people getting less happy? Easterbrook's views are that people now feel that their lives lack meaning and drive, that the world focuses mostly on the negatives rather than how things have improved, that people have moved from seeking things they need (desires that can be satisfied) to things they want (desires that can't, leading to greater dissatisfaction), focusing too much on the small picture, collapse anxiety (the feeling that culture has peaked and is bound to fall apart sooner rather than later), trying to keep ahead of everyone else, and the sense that the future won't really be improved, among other factors. It's a pretty daunting and exhausting list, but it's all accurate, as far as I can tell.
His broad solution is that people should move to being more positive and doing things that can lead to more meaning in their lives, along with some specific policies to follow (such as providing a living wage domestically and greater foreign aid; I won't provide a whole list), and it actually is pretty positive, that this is something we may be able to get past. I suggest reading the book, just to get a full sense.
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, or find it quite so thought-provoking, and I did disagree with some points (want less sprawl? Well, that means getting rid of immigration... you don't want that, do you?), but it's a very strong book, all around. It's slightly out of date now, but it stands up pretty well, and I'd recommend it, for sure, if you have the time.
Next up: Unexpected Magic. Just the novella at the end left now, really.
Book #1: The Progress Paradox
Author: Gregg Easterbrook
Provenance: Received from Bookmooch
One of the problems of our age, particularly in the more affluent parts of the world, is that while life is really much better in many ways than it was in the past, people are on the whole getting less happy; certainly, there hasn't been much of a rise in happiness in First World countries, and depression has gone up a lot. Easterbrook's book is an attempt to argue both of these: things really have gotten better, even if it seems like they may have gotten worse, and that people really aren't happier about it. Then, he's got some ideas about where to go from here, to make the world better still and people happier in the process.
You don't have to buy his arguments, but he does make them pretty persuasively. It's true, the world is a lot better off than 50-100 years ago. Living standards have gone up on almost all measures, most of the problems of the past have been solved, people work less than they used to, live longer and retire earlier, get better educations and have more freedoms. To Easterbrook's credit, he does admit that not all problems have been solved, and that they still need more work: there's still more poverty in Western culture than we should allow, still more hunger, still too many people without health coverage. But on the whole, things do seem to be getting better.
But then, why are people getting less happy? Easterbrook's views are that people now feel that their lives lack meaning and drive, that the world focuses mostly on the negatives rather than how things have improved, that people have moved from seeking things they need (desires that can be satisfied) to things they want (desires that can't, leading to greater dissatisfaction), focusing too much on the small picture, collapse anxiety (the feeling that culture has peaked and is bound to fall apart sooner rather than later), trying to keep ahead of everyone else, and the sense that the future won't really be improved, among other factors. It's a pretty daunting and exhausting list, but it's all accurate, as far as I can tell.
His broad solution is that people should move to being more positive and doing things that can lead to more meaning in their lives, along with some specific policies to follow (such as providing a living wage domestically and greater foreign aid; I won't provide a whole list), and it actually is pretty positive, that this is something we may be able to get past. I suggest reading the book, just to get a full sense.
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, or find it quite so thought-provoking, and I did disagree with some points (want less sprawl? Well, that means getting rid of immigration... you don't want that, do you?), but it's a very strong book, all around. It's slightly out of date now, but it stands up pretty well, and I'd recommend it, for sure, if you have the time.
Next up: Unexpected Magic. Just the novella at the end left now, really.
