In 2001 there were 200,000 knee replacements which was a category of health care that didn't exist what, 25 years ago, 20 years ago. To complain that our healthcare system is too expensive and therefore people are suffering when in fact causation runs the other direction because people have so much access to healthcare it's driving up the price. Much rather that society be spending money on making people healthier and alleviating their suffering than all the other ways we could spend money.
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.