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A review by veryperi22
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
5.0
One of the better books I've read in a while, albeit slightly outdated, (about privatization of space travel, pamdemics). I'd love to hear what Ridley has to say about COVID, and apparently he has a book coming out on the topic.
For each apocalyptic (made by apocaholics, haha) prophecy, the world righted itself and the apocalypse didn’t come. Not because the prediction wasn’t true, but because the predictions are always “with all things remaining the same”, which it never does.
Just when we’re about to be 10 feet deep in horse manure, the car comes around.
Just when the world is about to be reset by Y2K, better code, better software comes around, and, nothing. The world goes on.
He especially goes on about climate change, which is the next big apocalypse-
However, if the world becomes a poorer place, there will be less emissions, and if the world becomes a more prosperous place (which is far more likely) then there will be enough resources to solve for it.
“Don’t stop the nose bleed by tying a tourniquet around our necks”.
And finally:
The question is not 'can we go on as we are?' Because of course the answer is 'No', but how best can we encourage the necessary torrent of change that will enable the Chinese and the Indians and even the Africans to live as prosperously as Americans do today.
For each apocalyptic (made by apocaholics, haha) prophecy, the world righted itself and the apocalypse didn’t come. Not because the prediction wasn’t true, but because the predictions are always “with all things remaining the same”, which it never does.
Just when we’re about to be 10 feet deep in horse manure, the car comes around.
Just when the world is about to be reset by Y2K, better code, better software comes around, and, nothing. The world goes on.
He especially goes on about climate change, which is the next big apocalypse-
However, if the world becomes a poorer place, there will be less emissions, and if the world becomes a more prosperous place (which is far more likely) then there will be enough resources to solve for it.
“Don’t stop the nose bleed by tying a tourniquet around our necks”.
And finally:
The question is not 'can we go on as we are?' Because of course the answer is 'No', but how best can we encourage the necessary torrent of change that will enable the Chinese and the Indians and even the Africans to live as prosperously as Americans do today.