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Title: The Progress Paradox
Subtitle: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse
Author: Gregg Easterbrook
Narrator: uncredited
Format: Abridged
Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-21-03
Publisher: Random House Audio
Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 44 votes
Genres: History, World
Publisher's Summary:
Between contemporary emphasis on grievances and the fears engendered by 9/11, today it is common to hear it said that life has started downhill, or that our parents had it better. But objectively, almost everyone in today's United States or European Union lives better than his or her parents did.
Still, studies show that the percentage of the population that is happy has not increased in fifty years, while depression and stress have become ever more prevalent. The Progress Paradox explores why ever-higher living standards don't seem to make us any happier. Detailing the emerging science of "positive psychology," which seeks to understand what causes a person's sense of well-being, Easterbrook offers an alternative to our culture of crisis and complaint. He makes a compelling case that optimism, gratitude and acts of forgiveness not only make modern life more fulfilling but are actually in our self-interest.
Seemingly insoluble problems of the past, such as crime in New York City and smog in Los Angeles, have proved more tractable than they were thought to be. Likewise, today's "impossible" problems, such as global warming and Islamic terrorism, can be tackled, too.
Like The Tipping Point, this book offers an affirming and constructive way of seeing the world anew. The Progress Paradox will change the way you think about your place in the world, and about our collective ability to make it better.
Critic Reviews:
"Easterbrook...writes nothing that is not brilliant." (Chicago Tribune)
"This is an important, timely, and well-reasoned book that is sure to have people talking." (Booklist)
"Easterbrook...is a serious author with serious points to make." (The New York Times)
"Easterbrook invests the timeless questions of life's meaning with distinctly contemporary pertinence." (George Will)
"Easterbrook is perhaps the finest general science writer in the country." (Forbes)
Members Reviews:
Not
Those who label this book as "liberal" are doing it a disservice. Easterbrook's advice is logical and pragmatic, not political. I generally lean to the right of center and I found this book to be a compelling read (listen). As for "veer(ing) off into a socialist agenda advocating class warfare against the rich" (as one reviewer wrote), I don't see it. Easterbrook's main complaint is against CEOs who manipulate the system to award themselves obscene salaries and bonuses.
Is it "liberal" to say that awarding tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to executives, while low end workers are laid off, is wrong? I don't think so. Maybe if your definition of "liberal" is "not conservative".
Some of his arguments about living wages and the like might be considered liberal views. But he balances it with a good dose of pragmatism when it comes to things like the environment.
The audio presentation is excellent, one of the best I've heard.
Simplistic
Enjoyed his take down of CEO's although examples are from the Enron era, bit out of date, but his solutions are terribly naive.
Good start , then faulty analysis, hidden politics
The Progress Paradox starts off with an interesting review of why, despite things being better, people seem unhappy.
