The Good Life and Its Discontents: The American Dream in the Age of Entitlement
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.NewsweekandWashington Postwriter 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 Discontentsoffers some ideas for change. Read it and decide if the "American Dream" has become the "American Fantasy."