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A review by jeff88subplot
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
2.0
Read only the first few chapters and you will walk away with the best part of Ridley’s POV. The remainder of the book becomes whiny, shallow, and wrong. He starts with a great premise- despite what many people think, the world is truly better off than it was before and not just by a little, but in remarkable and wonderful ways. He has compelling and fun metrics to back it up. He gets into why trade and is the greatest driver of peace and innovation and is the reason why civilization exists at all.
But then he spends the rest of the book attacking The Pessimists using name calling and one-sided arguments that make the book feel like something off the desk of the the 45th President (assuming that particular person reads). The veracity of his attacks on environmentalists (trying to save the environment sacrifices people), scientists (research is pointless; true innovation only comes from entrepreneurs), aid workers (helping struggling economies just makes them unlikely to solve their own problems), etc. could not help me think that he either has a financial stake in what he is writing about or that he doesn’t quite believe them himself.
The book winds down with a kind of dark Pollyanna perspective that says that things will always get better because they always do, but fails to acknowledge that the reason why the world might be better is that people who do spend time thinking of consequences work hard to keep it from becoming that way.
Ultimately meant to deliver an uplifting message that humanity is improving all the time and that the past really isn’t better, The Rational Optimist just proves to be an angry and defensive tome that is pessimistic about pessimism.
But then he spends the rest of the book attacking The Pessimists using name calling and one-sided arguments that make the book feel like something off the desk of the the 45th President (assuming that particular person reads). The veracity of his attacks on environmentalists (trying to save the environment sacrifices people), scientists (research is pointless; true innovation only comes from entrepreneurs), aid workers (helping struggling economies just makes them unlikely to solve their own problems), etc. could not help me think that he either has a financial stake in what he is writing about or that he doesn’t quite believe them himself.
The book winds down with a kind of dark Pollyanna perspective that says that things will always get better because they always do, but fails to acknowledge that the reason why the world might be better is that people who do spend time thinking of consequences work hard to keep it from becoming that way.
Ultimately meant to deliver an uplifting message that humanity is improving all the time and that the past really isn’t better, The Rational Optimist just proves to be an angry and defensive tome that is pessimistic about pessimism.