The American Evolution

At a time when both major political parties in the United States are busy pointing to who caused some of the problems we are faced with, author Matt Harrison invites the country to think about working on solutions so that we can move forward. No matter what the topic or obstacle we face, the truth is that none of this is new: we have been challenged before and overcome and can do it again. Harrison outlines major issues that we are all grappling with in our day-to-day life and shares commonsense ideals as to how we can address them, have a real dialogue about our disagreements but not get submerged in partisan bickering. I believe this book and others like it that look for the best in us all instead of harping on the worse have the ability to heal the wounds inflicted in our past and start the healing process.

Harrison, Matt. "The American Evolution", Prometheus Institute Press, 2009. Caring for Ourselves Amos Lassen Matt Harrison is amazing. He is young, not yet 26 yet he has ideas about meaningful health care reform that make a lot of sense. He is the founder of the Prometheus Institute, an organization that looks at the problems that exist in our health care system and how government regulations stop the rise of new entrepreneurs and businesses and also restrict choices and therefore retard and stop innovation and growth. He looks at our system and shows how it needs an overhaul and that we have the most expensive health care in the world and that there are 47 million American citizens without health care. Harrison began the Prometheus Institute when he was a 19 year old student as a way to look at independent policy solutions in order to bring down the amount that government has to pay on the people and then to find a way to creatively sell these ideas to Americans thereby creating demand for positive change. This book is written to help us better understand and find a way to deal with the problems that we face. Harrison's view is compelling as he deals with the progress in the field of health. He shows that our environment must allow for choice and change in order for us to have a successful program. He writes in a way that is easy to read and gives us some faith. He uses the real world as a basis for ideas and shows how problems can be solved through Evolutionary Choice Theory. What an accomplishment for someone so young!

Matt Harrison and his book are good reasons for us older folks to have faith once again in the under-30 generation. Thoughtful and erudite at the same time it's powerfully compelling, this book will rekindle the American people's interests in the kind of problem-solving innovation that comes from the grassroots rather than from top-down, central planner types. If you want to be challenged in your thinking and inspired about what the future could bring, get this book!

Harrison has captured something amazing in this book -- he weaves Darwin's Evolutionary theory, network theory, quantum physics and modern economics into a single unified theory he calls the, "Evolutionary Choice Theory." But don't mistake this book as mere science, it's implications are quite metaphysical is nature, and Harrison touches on everything from Obama's bailouts, global warming, the rise of social networks like Facebook & MySpace, to Lao Tzu's Ying & Yang, and Amit Goswami's "Visionary Window." The most refreshing part about this book is not the synthesis of classic texts or laser-like precision of Harrison's logic. The best part of "The American Evolution", is that it's filled with real-world applicable solutions to today's seemingly unsolvable problems. Nearly half the book is dedicated to solving our global calamity through the lens of the Evolutionary Choice Theory. Harrison shows that given the interconnectedness and complexity that exist in today's social-political scene, it's impossible for one man (like Obama) undertake the challenges by himself. Instead, we must embrace a new outlook for political change if we hope to have more freedom in the future rather than less. A must read for anyone interested in evolutionary biology, politics or creative thought. A modern classic that will shape the way people talk about politics and economics for the next fifty years, equivalent to Buckley's first classic "God and Man at Yale". Incredible to think that Harrison wrote this but is still not yet 26 years of age.

Matt Harrison nails it with a compelling look at choice and competition from new and different angles. This is not a typical political or economic work. This book is about progress, in the truest sense of the word - technological, cultural and material. The book rises above the typical partisan divides and neither condemns those who value tradition nor those who seek change, but makes clear that without an environment that allows for choice and adaptation, no one will be happy. Harrison draws on great economic thinkers like F.A. Hayek and James Buchanan, but also on cultural icons and pop-technology. Like Virginia Postrel, the author sees not a world of left vs. right, but of change vs. stasis, and the need for an embrace of an evolutionary philosophy in our legal, cultural and economic systems. The book's structure makes it an easy and compelling read. Anyone who wants to see genuine progress but distrusts the major political parties and interests groups will find solace in American Evolution's radical but practical ideas.