Meet the Author
Bradley Wright is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. After keeping quiet about his Christian faith early in his career, Wright became more open after gaining tenure. His specialties include religion, social psychology and crime. Wright’s two most recent books are Christians are Hate-Filled Hypocrites . . . and Other Lies You’ve Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media (included in my Top 10 Books of 2010) and Upside: Surprising Good News About the State of Our World (2011) . For more information,visit his website, view his faculty page, or read his blog.
Book Basics
Upside seeks to evaluate life as it really is and to compare that to life as people believe it to be in order to determine whether or not current perceptions are accurate about the things that most people think matter most. The upside of Upside is so incredible that it should be a must read for anyone who is discouraged by the way things are in the world today. Additionally, it should be required reading for those involved in advocacy and fundraising for nonprofits who so often intentionally paint an incomplete and overly negative picture of both the current situation and recent progress in order to solicit volunteers and funds.
Upside looks at a limited number of issues that Wright views as “important to most people” with the goal of providing “accurate perceptions of the world in both the ways that it’s getting better and worse” (p.31). Chapter after chapter, the data clearly indicates that things are better than most people assume them to be currently in America and that the trends over the last several decades show we are making progress or improvement in most of the areas considered. This general conclusion is significant since chapters cover topics including finances, intelligence, health, stress, marriage and families, and the environment. While there is good news about each larger category, some subcategories that don’t fare as well.
In the concluding chapter, Wright displays these findings in a chart that compares life in the United States today to what it was 30 years ago and 60 years ago for each subcategory using the following choices for each: substantially better, somewhat better, about the same, somewhat worse, and substantially worse (p. 201-204). By my count, life today when compared to life 30 years ago is only worse (somewhat or substantially) in 10 of 39 categories. In other words, we as well off or better off today than a generation ago in roughly 3/4 of the items considered (74%). Notably the positive trend covers every health issue considered, except for obesity.
Finally, while the book considers matters that matter to all it is especially of interest to American Christians. Wright focuses on how America does compared to itself and, when applicable, to the rest of the world. Additionally, he suggests why certain issues are of interest to Christians, especially Evangelicals, and offers snapshots of a number of specific ministry groups to supplement statistics with stories.
So What?
Upside offers readers the opportunity to reevaluate their perceptions based on facts. Consider that:
. . . we are much healthier now than before. We live much longer . . . We are better educated, more literate, and perhaps overall smarter than in the past. We have less crime. . . . Economically, family income is up and the cost of living is down . . . When it comes to the environment, air and water quality has improved . . . (p 204-205).
After attaining an awareness of the data, Wright suggests implications for our lives and divides these into what we think and what we should do:
- Think
- Be aware of good news
- Be skeptical of what you hear, especially the negative news
- Distinguish “is” from “ought”
- Do
- Match resources to problems
- Simplify, consume less
- Entangle yourself in social relationships (p.217-221)
Negative news sells and receives undue attention. This has become increasingly true in the media as well as in the way many nonprofits advocate for their causes. We must learn to approach material differently (the think step above) and respond accordingly (the do step above).
- What sources do you draw from when creating your perspective about a given issue?
- What kinds of negative statistics have you come across of late and where did you find these (e.g. newspaper, news program, marketing materials, magazine articles, fundraising appeals from nonprofits)?
- Have you sought to test the validity of statistics and other information offering negative portrayals or do you tend to trust it because it comes from an authoritative source?
Bradley R. E. Wright. Upside: Surprising Good News About the State of Our World (Bethany House, 2011). ISBN: 9780764208362.