More excerpt from the book, The Rational Optimist:
"A constant drumbeat of pessimism usually drowns out any triumphant song of the kind I have vented in this book so far. If you say the world has been getting better you may get away with being called naive and insensitive. If you say the world is going to go on getting better, you are considered embarrassingly mad.
"A constant drumbeat of pessimism usually drowns out any triumphant song of the kind I have vented in this book so far. If you say the world has been getting better you may get away with being called naive and insensitive. If you say the world is going to go on getting better, you are considered embarrassingly mad.
If, on the other hand, you say catastrophe is imminent, you may expect a McArthur genius award or even the Noble Peace Prize. The airwaves are crammed with doom.
I cannot recall a time when one or other of these scares was not solemnly espoused by sober, distinguished and serious elites and hysterically echoed by the media. I cannot recall a time when I was not being urged by somebody that the world could only survive if it abandoned the foolish goal of economic growth."
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