Was the past better?  Were the "Good Old Days" really all they are chalked up to be?   Gregg Easterbrook, author of It's Better Than it Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear, has a bold argument.  Things are better now then they have ever been.  That will surprise a lot of people who did not feel 2017 was a great year.  But on economics, environment, culture and crime, Easterbrooks thesis is that on average, stats have improved and "Good Old Days" Arguments are no more than opportunist political rhetoric.  A reminder about our sponsor Warby Parker eyeglasses - get your try on pack of 5 frames at www.warbyparker.com/myhistory