Americans have never had more choices. And it's making us miserable.

Alone
(Image credit: Gerrit Greve/CORBIS)

In their personal lives, Americans have never been freer — from obligations, expectations, restrictions, constraints. Most of us consider this a hard-won achievement, a sign of progress beyond the limitations with which our parents, and their parents, and their parents' parents, had to contend.

But is it really progress? Are we happier in our boundless autonomy — or more miserable?

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.