What is progress? | Rory Sutherland, Angus Deaton, Arlie Hochschild | The tears of the West

Arlie Hochschild, Angus Deaton and Rory Sutherland debate whether the current state of the post-industrial West really looks like progress.
But is there a danger that economic pessimism discourages workers from making demands?
Watch the full debate at iai.tv/video/the-tears-of-the...
Once we believed in progress, and saw ourselves at the leading edge of culture and life as improving. Now we are more likely to see the negatives in both in society and in our future. 75% of millennials think they will be worse off than their parents. But some argue there is a risk this outlook is not only mistaken but bad for our health and society. The Swedish statistician Hans Rosling argued that we are systematically far more negative about ourselves and the world than is justified by the data. Despite a much higher standard of living we are more pessimistic than those in China, India, Russia and Brazil. Furthermore a recent study of 160,000 people showed pessimism negatively effects health with the most optimistic living 11-15% longer than the most pessimistic.
Have we lost faith in our culture and is our self-criticism at risk of becoming self-fulfilling? Do we need to identify and celebrate our strengths and our successes to build a brighter more positive future? Or should we see our self-criticism as rightly identifying injustice that urgently needs to be addressed?
#west #globalisation #postindustrial
Columnist at the Spectator and Marketing Executive at Ogilvy & Mather Rory Sutherland joins Nobel Prize winning economist Angus Deaton and Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California Berkeley Arlie Hochschild. Roger Hearing, former news presenter for the BBC World Service, hosts.
00:00 Introduction
00:26 Rory Sutherland: Life is materially better
03:11 Arlie Hochschild: The social logic of downward social mobility
05:08 Angus Deaton: Deaths of despair
07:18: Rory Sutherland: A bleak economic prognosis pushes downward pressure on wages
08:50 Arlie Hochschild: The American Dream is broken
11:39 Angus Deaton: We have stagnated since the financial crash
14:18 Rory Sutherland: Georgism explained
15:27 Should we draw optimism from our comparative progress?
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[@TheInstituteOfArtAndIdeas]

Should we be more optimistic about post-industrial Western societies? Leave your thoughts in the comments. To watch the full debate, head to iai.tv/video/the-tears-of-the-west?KZbin&

[@seanhewitt603]

I get unreasonably frustrated when I watch discussions like this, knowing people for what they are, and listening to apologists try to justify not acting against the ultra wealthy, just to avoid rocking the boat, I say tip it over !, start fresh, because, at this rate, chaos is an empty belly away.

[@rileyhoffman6629]

The answer depends on one's socioeconomic status. Progress to most of us isn't the growth of corporations; it's their greed that controls society. Telling us 'good news' will only underwrite the lie and exacerbate the fundamental problem.

[@mikehoffler4097]

With due respect, and acknowledging that mindset plays a role, there's a distinct difference between being in a position of relative comfort, at some remove, and commenting on the socioeconomic reality, and living it. It is that bad, only the further removed you are from the impact point (i.e. the more money you have) the more abstract it is.

[@charlesackman892]

This video made me feel good. I have come to hate money. I take one shower a week and a I have a bag that I take to the store in order to place all my items into. And this all came about after I gave up sex. What a horrible vice.

[@UniversalSovereignCitizen]

Celebrate our success in rightly identifying injustice AND setting it aright! ALL MILLENNIALS GET OURSELVES A LARGER PAIR OF ' INTESTINAL FORTITUDES ! '

[@homewall744]

Progress is just whatever the observer thinks is moving in the direction they like. Another may view it as a degradation, or as a costly alternative, or as premature.

[@UniversalSovereignCitizen]

Interesting comment. It reminds me of a dog chasing it's tail.

[@UniversalSovereignCitizen]

Most people are smart enough to see when something is not good for... 'society on the whole.' By paying close attention, I believe this is the crux of the video here.

[@thstroyur]

You just described the problem with relativism

[@thornx1044]

I love the ending “NO”

[@UniversalSovereignCitizen]

I truly love you!

[@UniversalSovereignCitizen]

👍💜

[@Rnankn]

Things only get worse as time goes on, and at some point it is not hard to imagine neolithic hunter-gatherers had a better quality of life. And in exchange for exactly nothing, we are presented with a planet dying in the name of ‘progress’. Tears suggest tragedy, but we’re much closer to comedy.

[@benjones1717]

There hasn't been anything that has got cheaper since the 90's. The only improvement in life has been new toys.

[@MrPhesodge]

That's not fair, the capitalist incentive is supposed to drive research, and our progress on certain fields (medicine, space) has been the healthiest its been in a long time this past couple of decades. I agree it's critical we need to watch out and legislate when the capitalist incentive falls short of what society needs, but claiming things like 'there's been no progress' just weakens the argument.

[@ArtisanTony]

Kind of a silly title "Tears of the West"? lol

[@thstroyur]

Tears of the Woke

[@CHIEF_420]

@GermanBionic 🤝 @Amazon