Abundance

by Ezra Klein

But progress is more about implementation than it is about invention. An idea going from nonexistence to existence—from zero to one—introduces the possibility of change. But the way individuals, companies, and governments take an idea from one to one billion is the story of how the world actually changes. And it doesn’t always change, even after a truly brilliant discovery. The ten-thousand-year story of human civilization is mostly the story of things not getting better: diseases not being cured, freedoms not being extended, truths not being transmitted, technology not delivering on its promises. Progress is our escape from the status quo of suffering, our ejection seat from history—it is the less common story of how our inventions and institutions reduce disease, poverty, pain, and violence while expanding freedom, happiness, and empowerment.