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.
Rating: 
Summary: Happiness is -- Al Gore?
Review: Why is it that we are materially better off than any generation in history, yet we are not any happier? The question is intriguing, so I read this book hoping for insight.The book can be divided into 3 sections: 1) Life is great. Lot of "feel-good" statistics prove this ad nauseum. In fact, we have too much stuff! 2) Yet we are not happy - This is the most interesting section as he outlines several theories on why this is so. 3) We would be happier if we liberals ruled and punished evil CEOs, banned the big ugly SUV's, empowered Arabs, and brought to the rest of the world the same material things that fail to make us happy. He asserts that rich people are unhappy, but concludes that the everyone would be happier if they were rich. The writing at times is over-the-top, especially when he gets on some of his favorite rants. Here's an example: "Yet the realization that not just a few, but many of those at the top of Western society were cackling as they counted their gold and the poor wept tells us that we have come nowhere as far as we thought" Ultimately his conclusion is that were will all be happier if we forsake our worldly possessions. And if this doesn't happen, the government could force us to drive small cars and keep those evil rich people from having too much money! A better book on this topic is The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz.
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