The Progress Paradox

How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse

By: Gregg Easterbrook

Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Progress Paradox, Gregg Easterbrook draws upon three decades of wide-ranging research and thinking to make the persuasive assertion that almost all aspects of Western life have vastly improved in the past century; and yet today, most men and women feel less happy than in previous generations. Why this is so and what we should do about it is the subject of this book.

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.

©2003 Gregg Easterbrook (P)2003 Books On Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Easterbrook...writes nothing that is not brilliant." (Chicago Tribune)

"Easterbrook is perhaps the finest general science writer in the country." (Forbes)

"Easterbrook...is a serious author with serious points to make." (The New York Times)

"This is an important, timely, and well-reasoned book that is sure to have people talking." (Booklist)

Pretty Good . . . but.

I rather enjoyed this book. However, as someone that is pretty happy, grateful for the things I have and more concerned with environmental issues then the average person . . . I would have to say that I'm in the minority. Having just spent a year traveling around the 'western world' and now returned to my small home town in Canada; I would have to say that what the author has to say relates to most of the people that I met during my travels . . . it's certainly worth listening to (regardless which side of the coin your on.)

Don't let the extremists stop you.

Quite apart from the Fox News-poisoned minds of some reviewers above, I found this book to be generally quite important, with a few minor exceptions.

Easterbrook is no ranting liberal. He's a middling to conservative catholic writer with a fine head for synthesis. He brings together such wide-ranging topics as affective forecasting, behavioral economics, psychology, religion, sprituality, and statistics into a well-reasoned (but not perfect or comprehensive - no one would read such a book) sensible argument that boils down to this: we can be satisfied only if we choose to be.

The bottomless appetite we all experienced as children can be carried into adulthood if we are not mindful, resulting in a surprising inability to experience happiness in the face of plenty. Our lives can waste away in a cloud of pointless and insatiable material desires.

Great stuff. It will inspire gratitude in all but the most ideological stuf grabbers.

An Important Listen

I have to say that the first half of the book was very interesting and something I would urge anyone living in western society to listen to. He shows how even though most media outlets like to focus on the negative, and people love to believe everything bad that they hear, things really are getting better from our parents generation.
As someone who lives under 'wage stress' or whatever his name was for people who were just above minimum wage, but also in constant fear of some accidental drain on resources to put them in the poor house, I have to disagree with many of the things he states in the latter portion of his book, which contains almost all of the material I didn't feel fit the theme of the book.
In the first half, he addresses facts about how life is getting better, and wonders why we aren't feeling good about it. You would then say that he would put forth some ideas on how to feel good about it, or at least continue with his 'quit your bitching, things ARE good' feel he had going at the beginning of the book.
Instead, he dives off into long tirades on seemingly unconnected subjects like the 'pathetic arab nations' (his words not mine) and raising the federal minimum wage to an outrageous ten dollars an hour in an effort to make things more expensive for your average American in order to help the statistically fewer poor, forgetting about those of us right above the minimum he suggests, and thusly those that would hurt the worst by the inflation of goods to follow. He also tried to shame the reader into taking on even more of a burden in order to give more money to third world countries. What that has to do with things being better and us not being happy about it is above my head.
Additionally, he seems incapable of using the word "car," instead referring to them as "massive SUV's with the drivers screaming into their cell phones!" While I agree with his general dislike for the vehicle, it isn't the only thing on the road.
Now I'm out of words

One of my favorite books

The book weaves a clever argument for prolific discrepancies between the progress made by our society and our psychological perception of it.

Half great read, half political rant

I rated this 3 stars---the first half was easily 5 stars, a well-researched and written analysis of happiness and what does/does not make it. Part 2 was worth 1 star, a seemingly endless retelling of all the woes of current American society and choices. Ironically some of the prescriptions do not even appear to make economic sense. While I do agree with some of the author's points, if I wanted a political discourse on economics I would have bought another book. Will listen to part 1 again; will delete part 2.

Strong arguments for optimism

Easterbrook has many compelling arguments that although the culture of complaint and pessimism are seductive, an optimistic and kind demeanor towards life and others is far wiser. He cites voluminous statistics concerning how things are improving and studies that demonstrate the benefits to those who follow a philosophy of optimism and compassion.

I have familiarity with some of the literature Easterbrook cites and as a whole his arguments and logic are stronger than those of the individual authors he discusses. After listening to the book, it is more difficult for me to think and act in a pessimistic fashion. This alone makes the book worthwhile

Challenged my way of thinking

This was a very interesting book. I'm kind of anti-news media, since they always seem to leave you with the impression that the world is a terrible place and that everything is getting worse. This book is filled with facts that make you realize that most things are much better than they have been at any previous time in world history. It was refreshing in that regard.

However, in the middle of the book he launches a tirade against SUV's and how wasteful and horrible they are. I was thinking, huh? Where did that come from? Most cars are more economical these days, why is he focusing on the exceptions now? It was just the beginning... He goes on to plug universal healthcare, ending poverty, class envy, and protecting the environment. All classic liberal causes. I could spend time picking apart the biased way he uses statistics to make some of his points, but I'll leave that to you.

It dawned on me that he was using our unprecedented prosperity to shame people into solving these problems. At the same time I was objecting to where he was going, I was also asking myself, is he wrong? Well, no, these problems need solving (ignoring the hysteria around the causes). The dangerous aspect of the book is that it does not address what method should be used to solve these problems. Many people will look to government to solve the issues, which I think the dangerous aspect of this book. He makes clear points for market economics and interfering with these principles would be detrimental. In my philosophy, charity is a principle of the heart, not a government program.

Overall this is a good read and will challenge both conservatives and liberals alike, not to mention those "glass half empty" folks.

Must read. An intelligent and well researched book

If you could sum up The Progress Paradox in three words, what would they be?

Informed, positive, inspiring.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is a book about life. Allowed me to look deeper into myself as an individual as well as a member of society, helping me understand how I think, behave and relate to others.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Marosz’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I have not.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is an amazing book, enriched with words of wisdom throughout. The arguments are very well thought through and the language so straight forward that it can reach any audience.

Any additional comments?

I thoroughly recommend it. It is one of those books that you will come back to a few times, as there is a lot to absorb and to relate to.

Great insight

I really enjoyed this book. It explains how all things have been getting better for years, crime is down, people live longer, purchasing power is up, almost all things are better. He also explains why despite all these trends happiness is not going up.

The narrator is extremely clear and does an excellent job of reading the book.

A Conservative Liberal - Go Figure!

There is definitely something fascinating happening with this book, based on just the reviews on Audible: half the people are angry about his right-wing agenda, and the other half are angry about his left-wing agenda. And amidst all these partisan dismissals there are very few people who seem to understand the real point of this book. To me, it's about how we as a culture tend to wallow in the negative(!), and despite most things having gotten significantly better in the world, we remain cynical and unhappy. Sure, the guy puts some of his own opinions in the book, some leaning a little left and some leaning a little right. That's what authors of books like this are supposed to do, IMHO --- and I for one was impressed by the fact that he didn't seem to follow any one party line but spoke up for things he felt were right regardless of whether it was right or left. I wish more of us did. But his strongest points were not his opinions but the factual data on so many things that most of us have taken for granted as "getting worse," when the data shows they are all getting better. And I think it is fascinating that the primary response to a guy who writes an extremely positive, optimistic book is full of such hostility, vitriol and indignation. Mr. Easterbrook may be onto something more powerful than he thought --- perhaps he could follow up with "The Positivity Paradox." In any case, I highly recommend this book, because it seems you will either a)get something positive and enlightening out of it, as I did, b)feel better about your liberal beliefs by dismissing him as a tool of the far right, or c)feel better about your conservative beliefs by dismissing him as a tool of the far left. There's truly something there for everbody!