The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement [Paperback]

Robert J. Samuelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1997

A New York Times Business Book Bestseller


"Shrewd and optimistic. . . . [The Good Life and Its Discontents] combines first-rate analysis with persuasive historical, political and sociological insights."
--The New Republic

Today Americans are wealthier, healthier, and live longer than at any previous time in our history. As a society, we have never had it so good. Yet, paradoxically, many of us have never felt so bad. For, as Robert J. Samuelson observes in this visionary book, our country suffers from a national sense of entitlement--a feeling that someone, whether Big Business or Big Government, should guarantee us secure jobs, rising living standards, social harmony, and personal fulfillment.

In The Good Life and Its Discontents, Samuelson, a national columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, links our rising expectations with our belief in a post-Cold War vision of an American utopia. Using history, economics, and psychology, he exposes the hubris of economists and corporate managers and indicts a government that promises too much to too many constituencies. Like David Reisman's The Lonely Crowd and John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society, the result is a book that defines its time--and that is sure to shape the national debate for years to come.

"A smart, balanced epitaph for an era--with a few clues for what's ahead."
--Business Week

"Lucid [and] nonsectarian . . . Samuelson traces how the reasonable demand for progress has given way to the excessive demand for perfection."
--The New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Why is it that Americans, who by most objective standards have never had it so good, (longer lives, easier jobs, more money, more personal fulfillment, less discrimination) think the nation is going to hell in a handbasket? Wealthier and freer than ever before, Americans focus on crime, family breakdown, and the depressed economy. Newsweek and Washington Post writer Robert J. Samuelson looks at history, sociology, the media, and political promises as he studies this strange paradox. Americans, he theorizes, became overconfident following World War victories and strong economic growth periods. An "Age of Entitlement" developed in which Americans believe the government, big business, the world, owes them...jobs, money, health care, security. A fascinating analysis of the modern American psyche, The Good Life and Its Discontents offers some ideas for change. Read it and decide if the "American Dream" has become the "American Fantasy."

From Publishers Weekly

Samuelson, a syndicated columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, offers here a thoughtful exposition of a paradox: Americans feel pessimistic even as the country overall has prospered by most measures. His explanation is the concept of "entitlement," the American sensibility that "almost everyone deserves to succeed." And just as Americans have enjoyed the fruits of prosperity (consumer goods, etc.), they have accordingly demanded more of government. However, he warns, our economy cannot be managed as easily as some theorists say. Thus, "the politics of overpromise"?in which budget deficits, broadened "rights" such as equality and lobbyist gridlock?have led to bloated government. Samuelson's solution is a culture of greater responsibility. He suggests we raise the retirement age to crimp the costs of an aging America, and that all government benefits be "means tested" (limited by income). Otherwise, he cautions, we may not band together to fight pressing social problems involving race and poverty. Hearkening back to the early-20th-century progressive movement, Samuelson suggests that an interregnum, such as our era, is part of the cycle of history. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (September 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679781528
• ISBN-13: 978-0679781523
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,235,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A colorful analysis of American society, November 30, 1999

By 

Todd Winer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement (Paperback)

This was one of the most intelligent, original, and colorful books that I have read this year. Most of the author's points are right on the mark. The great mystery of our time for political analysts is the large gap between peoples' evident satisfaction with their own life and their overwhelming disappointment with public life. Mr. Samuelson not only is perceptive enough to point out this overlooked paradox but diagnoses it well. This will be certainly a bold challenge for the next generation of public leaders.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Integration of qualitative and pre-quantitative perpectives., January 15, 1999

By 

John V. Petrocelli ([e-mail]) (Slippery Rock University) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement (Paperback)

It is quite easy to enjoy this book. By presenting relevant statistics Samuelson provides logical, however preliminary, conclusions as to why we are disillusioned as a nation. His ideas in regards to the promise of prosperity are particularly interesting. Finally the border of the puzzle has begun to form from the implications inherent in Samuelson's contentions. Most importantly, this book provides a framework full of hypotheses and statistical starting points for future social psychological research.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intellectual exploration of technology, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Life and its Discontents (Hardcover)

This book is excellent! It is a well written book about how even though we have more than any other culture in the history of civilization we are beating ourselves up because we haven't solved every problem. It also has an interesting discussion of the impact of technology on our society and our expectations of what technology will give to us. If you are interested in politics, technology, or the psychology of the nation as a whole this is an awesome buy.

It has a ton of tables and figures in the back that back up the (sometimes controversial) ideas. For example, most people are relatively happy with their life today, yet think that the majority is unhappy.