The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse [Hardcover]

The premise of "The Progress Paradox" is that all the gloom and doom forecasters are not only currently wrong, but have been wrong for generations. By every measurable standard, things are getting better, not just for Americans in general, but for the world at large. There is more prosperity, less hunger, a better environment, etc.

The introduction, chapter one, and chapter two are true to this theme. They outline in remarkable detail exactly how our lives are better than those of our forebearers and what kind of work our ancestors had to do to make oure lives better. In chapter 3, Easterbrook outlines reasons why Americans fail to believe the proof before their eyes.

But in chapter 4, he starts a high handed moral lecture. After telling the reader things are better, we should be more grateful for what we have, and we should learn to appriciate life, more, he then attacks the reader for not doing anything about poverty in America, for not insuring all American citizens, and for allowing hunger to exist in the world. Now, if Easterbrook had any suggestions, even ridiculous ones, this would not be so bad, but he goes from telling the reader "everything is better than you think it is" to telling the reader, "no! I lied! Everything IS going to hell in a handbasket and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!"

This does not sell his initial message.

He continues to lecture his middle class American readers (who can afford to spend $25 on a hardback book) about buying SUVs, talking on cell phones, and other technological advances he sees as nothing more than displays of immorality. After telling us that not only our lives are better, but the lives of the poor worldwide are better, he lecures us for not making massive governmental and sociatal sweeping changes - but never once suggests HOW we are supposed to do so.

Somewhere towards the middle of the book, he starts referncing his belief in Christianity, then instructing "good Christians" on their moral duties. Towards the end of the book, he says people will be unhappy until "the Lord returns to Earth." A book which started as a scientific analysis of progress and perception ends as a very unscientific sermon.

Easterbrook insists the reader should personally cure AIDS in Africa, insure the American poor, eliminate world hunger, and all while working with international agencies. Other than sending a check to the charity of your choice, he never suggests HOW to enact these sweeping changes. Easterbrook insists to not do so is immoral, but average Americans who can not get more than a form letter in response from their senators are left with no suggestions as to how they can enact these changes.

The end result is, instead of empowering the reader to feel good about our place in world history and offering reasonable suggestions for how we can help elliviate the suffering of others, this book turns into a moralistic lecture on hedonism. In the last chapter, he tries to sweep all the lecturing under the rug with a short happy ending. This defeats the book's alleged purpose.

I would highly recommend the introduction and first two chapters, and would guardedly recommend chapters 11 and 12, but can not in good concience recommend this book as a whole.

On the whole, though Easterbrook's observations and comments are powerful and on the mark; we live in an age of enlightenment only to deny our ability to enjoy the outcome of progress. Easterbrook is most successful when taking a deep look at our inability to enjoy what we've worked so hard for but also his arguments for examining the pessisism and darkness that we've allowed to cloud our lives. While we live in a cynical world dotted with irony and sarcasm, we've allowed these very qualities which are useful in measured degrees to infect every aspect of our lives. While it may be fashionable to be all of these things to a large degree, it's also eroded our perception on the quality of our life. We no longer believe that good things happen to us without a price. We no longer believe that there's actually goodness in the world that can keep our darker nature at bay. These beliefs are essential for providing some sense of balance. If we believe the sky is always falling, then the vitality of our everyday lives is stolen from us.

In effect, we've allowed the darkness to suck all the fun out of our lives. While some of us feel worse about the quality of life for many valid reasons (for example, mutlitasking hasn't improved the quality of work just the load that we can do), we've also dismissed the improvements we have compared to our ancestors. To give Easterbrook credit he doesn't shy away from the fact that we've yet to solve poverty, malnutrition or unemployement. He also acknowledges that disease continues to slip through our fingers just as we think we've got a solid grip on it.

Easterbrook's book isn't always convincing--he sometimes goes for the easy answer when there may be no answer at all--but it does make compelling and thought provoking reading. Perhaps next time he can examine the state of humanity without getting lost in the statistics that rule and help undermine our sense of the quality of life. It would also be useful if he looked at what's causing the nihilistic hypochondria that's sweeping this nation. In many ways, we face challenges that are equally as daunting as those our great-grandparent's faced. While we may have antibiotics, science and nutrition on our side, we also have media that allows instant communication (like this forum)that can decimenate as readily as any virus or bacteria that killed our ancestors. We're overwhelmed with information which can be just as emotionally daunting as some of the issues that faced those before us. If Easterbrook wants to come to the table with solutions or suggestions to make us feel better, he needs to think them out a bit more and understand the consequences of the oversatured world we live in today.