A short history of progress
by Ronald Wright · first published 2004
25% recommend75% neutral
Palaeolithic hunters who learnt how to kill two mammoths instead of one had made progress. Those who learnt how to kill 200 by driving a whole herd over a cliff had made too much. Many of the great ruins that grace the deserts and jungles of the earth are monuments to progress traps, the headstones of civilisations which fell victim to their own success. The twentieth-century´s runaway growth has placed a murderous burden on the planet. A Short History of Progress argues that this modern predicament is as old as civilisation. Only by understanding the patterns of progress and disaster that hum
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A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright is another good one that touches on this quite a bit. https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Progress-Ronald-Wright/...
on “Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but changed Earth's climate: study” ↗Best book on the subject I read is Wright's "A Short History of Progress" https://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Progress-Ronald-Wright/... Jared Diamond's "Collapse" is in a similar vein, but less cleanly written.
on “4.2 Kiloyear Event” ↗A Short History of Progress. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey2004.html
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗…Ronald Wright's 2004 Massey Lectures on "The History of Progress": https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-2004-cbc-massey-lectures-... Based on a book of the same title: https://www.worldcat.org/title/short-history-of-progress/ocl...
on “Technology Traps (1978) [video]” ↗"Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
on “Levandowski sentenced to 18 months in prison as new lawsuit against Uber filed” ↗“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress Kind of seems like the inevitable conclusion of the hard-sell of the American Dream
…quote may be of interest to you: “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” - Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
on “A Visa for founders, engineers and investors willing to join France” ↗“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress A tax break is never a long term incentive for an organization. Each year the financial plan is re-base against last years performance. The expectations is always set at continual growth and improvement.…
on “AT&T lied about everything it promised to do if it got a tax cut” ↗> Slightly tangentially to your comment, I believe that people tend to vote based on the fact they believe they either are, or will soon be, part of the one percent. As quoted in A Short History of Progress (2004) by Ronald Wright: > John Steinbeck once said that socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.…
“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” ― Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress Commonly misattributed
on “Why do we care more about benefit ‘scroungers’ than billions lost to the rich?” ↗…https://www.worldcat.org/title/unix-power-tools/oclc/2584502... The book that really got me "over the hump" in understanding the Unix environment and tools. Now somewhat dated, though still highly useful. 6. A Short History of Progress, by Ronald Wright (2004) https://www.worldcat.org/title/short-history-of-progress/ocl... An exploration of the story, question, and future, of progress. 7. Entropy and the Economic Process, by Nicholas…
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗…"John Steinbeck once said that socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires", Wright, Ronald (2004). A Short History of Progress. Toronto: Anansi Press. pp. 124.
on “Wal-Mart Tells Workers: Don’t Download Labor Group’s Chat App” ↗> “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” - Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress This quote is by John Steinbeck not by Ronald Wright. Ronald Wright merely quoted Steinbeck. The way Steinbeck actually said it (and the way you're implying it) is different than how Americans perceive…
on “A Visa for founders, engineers and investors willing to join France” ↗…rejected the sweater-wearing Jimmy Carter and elected Ronald Reagan who told them it was still “morning in America.” Nowhere does the myth of progress have more fervent believers." - Ronald Wright, 'A Short History of Progress'
on “American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class” ↗…quote: > John Steinbeck once said that socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. -- Ronald Wright, A Short History of Progress
on “I saw RealPage's crappy rent-jacking-up software so you don't have to” ↗