Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing, enlightening, down-to-earth
Review: This book is most definitely worth a read, at the very least for its statistics which prove why each of us in the Western world should pause to give thanks for all that we have. Easterbrook makes a convincing, well-researched argument that practically everything is getting better in America and the European Union, particularly when compared to 1 or 2 generations ago, in areas of crime, the environment, healthcare, education, and others. The typical middle-class American is so occupied with the work-and-acquisition cycle that s/he probably doesn't realize that the things within reach nowadays used to be only available to the super-rich (e.g., vacation homes, 3rd cars, swimming pools).
Easterbrook's optimism is not Pollyanna-ish. He knew that he would be writing for a mostly cynical and negative audience, so he took pains to research his book thoroughly, and it shows. It's true that he loses a bit of focus near the end of the book (for instance pontificating on modern Muslim society), and for that I'll dock him 1 star. But the points he makes are so necessary for selfish and unselfish Westerners alike to hear that this really should not deter potential readers.
Some reviewers criticize Easterbrook for not offering solutions to the paradox of why we're not happy when we have it so much better off than 99 percent of people who've ever lived (his quote, not mine). Easterbrook should have included a brief summary at the end of the book for the sake of short attention span Americans (like myself). According to my interpretation, he offers plenty of advice, but not in a heavy-handed instruction-manual format. If you read the book thoroughly, you will see that Easterbrook proposes numerous changes on the personal and societal level (and in fact, mentions several causes which people have been advocating for years). On the personal level, Easterbrook exhorts us to try to be as forgiving as possible and to feel grateful for what we have. In an interesting twist, he presents psychological research that proves those who adopt such attitudes live healthier lives -- hence it is in our own self-interest to be forgiving and grateful. On a societal level, Easterbrook appeals to our collective conscience and rightfully argues that 1 person in 8 should not and does not have to be poor in the richest nation on Earth. To that end he makes a case for a living wage, and lambastes corporate greed.
It is true that in some ways Easterbrook does not tell us what we don't already know, eg, money can't buy happiness, we should be thankful for all that we have, etc. Where Easterbrook succeeds is in demonstrating with scientifc precision how true this age-old wisdom is in the present day, and why we need to open our eyes to this more than ever. You may want to think about that while you're digging yourself out of holiday credit card debt.
As an aside, please don't be mislead by the fallacious summaries that several reviewers offer below. One reviewer takes a quote about SUVs from the book out of context -- SUVs are unsafe because an SUV is "more likely to harm the passengers in a car it collides with" (p 93) -- calling it a non sequitur. The reviewer fails to mention that on the very same page, Easterbrook does a satisfactory job of citing statistics that drivers and passengers INSIDE SUV's are slightly more likely to die than drivers and passengers in regular cars. Easterbrook's point was that SUVs make the road more dangerous for EVERYONE, both for those driving them (much higher rates of rollover fatalities) and for those drivers who have the misfortune of colliding with them (almost 5 times as likely to die from a side collision with an SUV than with a regular car).
Another reviewer erroneously states that Easterbrook says people will be unhappy until "the Lord returns to Earth." This quote is nowhere to be found in the book. While some may find Easterbrook's advocacy of greater financial equality in the Western world, for instance, to be "preachy", it is most certainly NOT a sermon, and he certainly does not take the stereotypical fundamentalist Christian viewpoint.
In summary, read this book and decide for yourself! You can check it out *for free* at your local public library.
Rating: 
Summary: It IS a wonderful life!
Review: This is a book I will be giving to a number of my "favorite" curmudgeons. It's a great way to be reminded, in an intelligent rather than Hallmark card sentimental style, of how much we have today. The Progress Paradox is a terrific read filled with details on this paradox and also great, simple, ideas of what we can do to make things feel as good as they really are. A perfect positive book to read upon entering 2004. I'm recommending Progress Paradox for my next book club selection...there's plenty to discuss with this one!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible learning and analysis
Review: This is a great and eye-opening book that reminds us about much of what is important in life. Really we shouldn't have to be reminded of how many riches life showers upon us, because we all can remember that our parents and grandparents lived much less abundant lives than we do. But people have a tendency to focus on the negative, even when the positive is right there in front of them. That's the great thing about reading this book -- it makes you happy to be alive rather than depressed. It has a huge amount of information and ideas that pop back into your head after you put the book down. And it's very funny -- really I can't recommend it highly enough.
Rating:
Summary: A great book club selection!
Review: This is a great book club selection!
Lots to think about and talk about.
Why aren't we any happier despite all that we have?
We had lots of fun with Progress Paradox.
Rating: 
Summary: A Most Misleading Book
Review: This is a most misleading book. Contrary to what Easterbrook says, the economic state of middle America is not so rosy. Jobs are this country's leading export. Wages relative to inflation are stagnant at best for most folks who are not in white collar occupations. Even for white collar workers, the economic climate is not so good.Essentially, Easterbrook's book is a prosecutor's brief on the side of raising taxes. He claims that even though most Americans are now better off than they ever have been, they are really miserable. Easterbrook claims that what's needed is a big tax increase to fund the programs necessary to "defeat global despair." What Easterbrook has done, in essence, is to bend the facts to fit his predetermined agenda of advocating a big tax increase to fuel a big spending program. More and more big government is what he's really interested in, not in healing the wounds of the middle class.
Rating:
Summary: Good News
Review: This is a really interesting and surprising book. The author presents an amazing amount of information to make the case that life is getting better for most Americans, alot of stuff that you don't read about in the papers everyday, or if you do, it's buried in all the bad news. It's not a pop psych book, but it does address questions of personal happiness and the scientific study of the issue. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a different perspective than what you hear in the media everyday.
Rating:
Summary: Times are a whole lot better than the media tells you.
Review: This is an excellent book that dismisses many cultural myths that are increasingly embedded in the minds of the masses. It is a well known fact that bad news sell better than good ones. The media and the press have exploited this fact excessively for many decades. According to what one reads in the paper, magazines, and books the American middle class is loosing ground. The U.S. is falling behind foreign competitors on many counts. Globalization is bad as it costs US jobs. There is a rapidly growing poverty stricken underclass. Gregg Easterbrook actually studied the demographic and economic data and concludes that the statements mentioned in the second paragraph are plain wrong. The truth is that the U.S. economy is growing, and its labor productivity is the envy of the World. With faster labor productivity we have a faster rising living standard in the U.S. than in Japan and Europe. The U.S. has benefited tremendously from globalization and free trade, as it has been able to replace any low-income jobs by much higher income ones. In summary, the U.S. economy is the envy of the World and so is our living standard. Greg Easterbrook further makes his case that our current generation in our current time has it better than any of our American predecessors. Our middle class is not shrinking, it is growing. Similarly, the poverty stricken underclass is shrinking. Our living standard on all counts has risen tremendously over the past century. Homeownership has risen, so as car ownership, and the ownership of increasingly more practical home appliances. The level of innovation in our society is unprecedented, and makes it for a much more exciting, yet comfortable, and convenient society to live in. Greg Easterbrook's style makes it for a very pleasant and easy reading experience. If you are interested about building a portfolio of sound arguments for political, and intellectual debates buy this book. You will be that much more informed and smarter than your friends who have not read it.
Rating:
Summary: Optimism is a justifiable world view
Review: This is the perfect book for that Scrooge or Pollyanna on your holiday present list! Mr. Easterbrook presents a thoughtful, reasoned assessment of the current quality-of-life in the United States and Europe and sets it in a global context. He details improved purchasing power, declining crime rates, increasing longevity and cleaning of the environment. Poverty, murder, pollution all seemingly unsolvable have begun to yield to pragmatic approaches. The message I found most useful and hopeful was that our current set of seemingly intractable problems, i.e. the greenhouse effect, terrorism, should not defeat us but rational efforts with honest reassessments may bring results. We can rejoice that our glass is half-full!!
Rating: 
Summary: Well intentioned, but defeats its own purpose
Review: Two chapters into this book, I thought, "wow, everyone should read this!" Two chapters further, I wondered if the publisher had accidentally mixed pages from another book into my copy. 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.
Rating:
Summary: Why America is better off than we think
Review: When asked which time period in America's history was the best, most people would respond with "the 50's and 60's were the best, the good old days." That era does seem pretty perfect today, because the majority of Americans today feel unhappy and unsettled. The 50's would seem ideal, because their standards of living, and goals were totally different.
Gregg Easterbrook has written an excellent book that shows how almost all aspects of life have improved drastically, yet most people are unhappy. This book was definetly worth reading, and it opened my eyes to things about our country that I had never even considered. One of the most fascinating parts of the book was when Easterbrook talks about how the media has impacted our state of happiness. Since the beginning of America, the media has influeced our perceptions of current affairs. After watching a couple hours of TV, a person most likely has an overwhelming sense of dread from all of the crime, violence, terrorism, and economic doom that seems to be waiting just around the corner. Every other medication commerical is designed to show us how depressed we really are, and how we need the anxiety medication to calm our worries and fears.
Easterbrook devotes entire chapters to prove how life for the majority of Americans has improved, yet they're unhappy. He provides multiple theories as to why this occurs, including the "paradox of choice," which means that all of the choices and opportunities we have today create additional stress. Another theory was "the revolution of satisfied expectations," which means that most people pretty much have what they need. But they will never have everything that they want. To be happy in the 50's would mean you had a house in the suburbs and a car to drive to and from there- the expectations have greatly increased.
Easterbrook combines facts, humor, and a nicely flowing style of writing that made this book very enjoyable to read. I'd highly recommend this book as it was one of the few non-fiction books I've read that truly made me think and evaluate my life.
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