The Disadvantages of the 20th Century

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If you could go back into the past, you would find that life was quieter and perhaps less stressful than it is today. The physical beauty of the country might have been greater, but your living standards would have been far lower. Your health outcomes would have been a lot worse. You would have lived a shorter time with far more discrimination, less opportunity, less personal freedom. Just the list goes on and on.

Author Gregg Easterbrook talks about the ideas in his latest book, The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse. How has life changed in America over the last century? Is the average person getting ahead or are the rich taking all the gains? Easterbrook argues that life is better for the average American in almost every dimension. The paradox is that despite those gains, we don't seem much happier.