Ron’s Reviews > Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think > Status Update

Chapters 5-12 are basically examples of developments that are making things better. Technology keeps getting faster and cheaper, and cell phones are connecting the developing world to the global community. Tech billionaires like Bill Gates and Elon Musk are also doing a lot of giving, but more hands-on, more globally, and at a younger age than the Carnegies and Rockefellers of prior generations.

Chapter 2 compares society-building to Maslow's hierarchy. If we can give people basics like immunizations and food security, higher goals will follow organically. Conversely, education efforts will stall out if kids don't have a safe place to live or light to do their homework.

Chapter 3 is about cognitive biases which make us think things are so much worse than they are, or are unsolvable, or not worth trying.

This book's argument is that people and technology have the potential to solve the Big Problems of the world, especially those affecting the developing world. Why should we care? Aside from the moral case, poverty correlates strongly with civil unrest and terrorism. Also, places with higher youth mortality have higher birth rates, so improving health may slow population growth and stretch our limited resources.