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Why Are You So Damn Happy?
Andrew Shurtleff / AP Photo
Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bright-Sided, talks with Megan Hustad about our optimism obsession and what it has to do with the mortgage crisis, the media, and Joel Osteen’s parking spot.
In June, New York magazine asked the Class of ’09 to characterize their mental outlook. Seven percent identified themselves as pessimists and 81 percent placed themselves in the optimist camp. Drilled for specifics, a scant 2 percent said they believed their lives would be worse in five years, while a whopping 95 percent saw greater things ahead—a strong indication that some self-professed pessimists aren’t so gloomy after all. Indeed, looking on the bright side has become all but mandatory in our culture, Barbara Ehrenreich argues in her new book, Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.
“Well, Joel Osteen has a very special relationship with the deity. He just has to say things like ‘Thank you, God, for blessing me with the best parking spot.’ And he gets it. He also can get good tables in restaurants, using the same method.”
Ehrenreich has been skewering cherished platitudes for years—from the popular notion that feminism ruined the nuclear family (in her 1987 book The Hearts of Men) to the idea that the poor are poor because they refuse to work, a policy plank whose hollowness she exposed in her bestselling Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Now that she’s trained her sights on optimism, Ehrenreich attempts to show how Americans are simply too damned cheerful, and how this well-intended but ultimately misguided optimism has shaped the mortgage crisis, our media, even our religion.
When I reached Ehrenreich by phone at her Virginia home, I asked her about a paradox raised in Bright-Sided’s introduction. Americans stress positive thinking more than any other culture, and yet by measures of self-reported happiness, we’re not faring so well. We rank low compared to the Danes, the Dutch, even the Malaysians. “If there has been a decline in happiness in America, and we don’t shape up well compared to other countries, including, weirdly, Finland, which I always thought of as very dour,” Ehrenreich said, “it relates to all this work we do to make ourselves be more positive. Positive thinking is imposed on people in a lot of settings. If you’re in the typical corporate workplace, you are exhorted to be positive. You’re told nobody wants to be around a negative person—which could mean somebody who just raises questions now and then, questions like ‘Isn’t our subprime exposure dangerously large here?’ People were fired for that in ’05 and ’07, right up until the end of the housing boom. You just could not say something like that.”
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. By Barbara Ehrenreich. 256 pages. Metropolitan. $23.
Ehrenreich found herself particularly struck by “big-tent” convocations, for which employers buy stacks of motivational books and bring in speakers like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to tell their workers how to be more positive. She sees the 1998 bestseller Who Moved My Cheese?, which essentially argued that job loss is nothing to fear, as a prime example. “What really went on here is that companies began picking up on this motivational industry in the 1980s, precisely when the age of layoffs begins,” she said. “Massive layoffs are a reason to bring in motivational speakers. That’s a reason to give copies of Who Moved My Cheese? free to your workers. Because you don’t want them complaining. You want them to be accepting of their increasingly insecure status. And you want the survivors of layoffs to work twice as hard.”
But hasn’t the positive thinking meme been around for a lot longer? Bright-Sided delves into the pop philosophy called “New Thought,” which enjoyed cultural traction from the turn of the last century through the Jazz Age. I asked Ehrenreich whether determined optimism isn’t a cyclical phenomenon, vulnerable to changes in fortune—New Thought, after all, which promised people any material thing they wanted as long as they thought hard enough, was effectively rendered ridiculous by the Great Depression. “Well, no,” Ehrenreich corrected me. “One of the biggest, most self-deluding bestsellers of this genre dates back to the Depression, and that’s Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It sold well [in 1937] and it still sells. Hill thought thoughts had a magnetic power. And that’s exactly the kind of thinking that has gone on right up till now.”
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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BuffyPhD
A little compassion would go a long way. I don't believe that positive thinking is antithetical to emotional and political honesty. Ehrenreich's prolific writing is evidence that she is energized by the social/cultural/political critique that comprises her work. That is not the case for many people. The "I will change this or die trying" approach to life may fill some with passion, but it IS crushing for other people. A kinder, gentler alternative to "you're getting it wrong" or "your spiritual practice is wrong-headed" would go a long way to creating change.
aaronsirbaihu
Articulating this kinder, gentler alternative for her would be a good first step.
I just spent four years living on the Georgia-South Carolina border, and let me tell you: I don't think the "high on Jesus" lifestyle is good for the community or receptive to persuasion. "God has a plan for the world. The wheat will be separated from the chaff. I am the wheat." This outlook stifles progressive action. It is supremely--divinely--self-centered. Who cares about the neighboring family or country when you're mainlining the divine spirit?
Veronicaxy
"I don't believe that positive thinking is antithetical to emotional and political honesty."
Hey Buffy, where did you see that? Ehrenreich's calling for balance and a reality check.
GPatton
'A kinder, gentler alternative to "you're getting it wrong" or "your spiritual practice is wrong-headed" would go a long way to creating change.' What the fuck is this supposed to mean? George Patton
jg90210
You can decide to be miserable and negative, or not. Simple. You have control of your feelings. You obviously don't know what it's like to struggle from paycheck to paycheck. Oh , and add into the mix, a bad job, bad boss, health problems, life events such as death, and oh yeah, wondering everyday how your going to make it to the next.
Basically, your out of touch with the people your researching.
downeast
I agree. I read her "Nickeled and Dimed" (I believe that was the title) and I simply could not get beyond her rather obvious alter-ego of "educated jounalist with ATM card serving as advocate for those I would otherwise never befriend." She came across as a smug outsider.
mcmchugh99
A survey just came out recently that said Americans were much less happy that they were 30 or 35 years ago, and I can believe it. That corresponds with my view that the last 30 years or so have been a Second Gilded Age that were very good for 10-20% of teh population, but hard on the poor, working class and middle class.
It crashed and ended in a depression, as all such Gilded Ages have in the past. That was historically predictable.
Every survey in the past four decades also indicates a tremendous loss of trust in government, politicians, corporations and the professions--a great distrust of the whole ruling establishment, and profound alienation. Vietnam and Watergate were certainly part of that, as were a number of other scandals after that, as well as declining living standards and life prospects for the majority of people in the last 30 years.
If these surveys are of any value at all, they do not lead to the conclusion that America is a particularly happy, trusting or optimistic society. Far from it.
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n--Y--bbrown13Rosalia
I think that you got the country wrong. I believe that it is Denmark, not Norway.
mcmchugh99
And in my experience, it's better not to ask God for what you deserve since you might get it, but then I had a strong Calvinist influence when I was young.
neverlate
I am very optimistic that here negativism will not sell in America.
JalapenoBob
I believe that you have to look much further back than 1900 to find the roots of American optimism. It goes back to the original settlers of this country. Without excessive optiism that things would be better in a wild, untamed land where even the most basic trappings of European civilization must be imported, who would volunteer to take a harrowing six-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean? When disaster struck in Europe, whether famine or war or whatever, what factor decided who stayed and who jumped on a boat and emigrated? Optimism. As Americans, our forebearers, chose to come from somewhere else, crossing the Baring Strait land bridge, the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean to find what they believed would be a better life at the end of their journey into the unknnown. This, in my opinion, is the definition of optimism, and it is not just our culture, it is our genetic heritage.
LordAlexTrebek
Nonsense. You could just as easily say that those Europeans who stayed behind were optimistic that things would get better in their home countries, and those who fled were pessimistic "quitters."
Hotfrostins
Nonsense, by defenition a quitter lacks the motivation to go on, only adventuristic seekers of a new life, risk takers would have been willing to leave the safety of an established lifestyle. Wether they were pessemists or optimists at heart. I think one has to be an optimist to take chances of such proportion with such unknown outcomes... our ancestors were dreamers seeking an optimistic outcome as are the vast majority coming here still
sophia5
Optimism is a good thing as long as it's based in reality.
Unfortunately we have a culture now that rewards mediocrity,
for example, in many schools or community organizations
there are no winners and losers when its come to kids'
academics or athletics.
Everyone gets a trophy, don't use the color red to mark a child's paper because it might "hurt their feelings."
Use purple, it's a must "gentler" more "sensitive" color.
No longer recognize Valedictorians because
it's "insensitive" to the other students.
All this unrealistic "optimism" will come back to haunt
those same American students in several years when their counterparts from India and China are achieving without
those same overly sensitive "cushions."
Does anyone think China and India use political correctness
to grade their students ? Doubt it very much.
As for Joel Osteen, when you can convince (brainwash) people into "passing the plate," sure the guy's going to syphon off some of that money to build himself big houses and buy expensive cars,
and live like a king . . . very unlike the "KIng Of Kings" he "preaches" so much about.
Does Osteen ever mention the line " it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than it is for a rich man to get to heaven ?
How could he tell his congregation such a thing
with a straight face ?
nmrguy
Spot on, Ms. Barbara! I'm sick and tired of the optimism crowd. it is preventing us from realistically acknowledging confronting the clogged sewers in our backyard. One area that you did not touch upon so much is the disease of such reckless optimism in and around the business world and in particular peddled by those avatars of risk-taking optimistic capitalists - tenured professors at business schools. "The only way to live in America is to work for yourself, small business is the only way, so much of this is plain BS of the same vein that you mention.
JalapenoBob
nmrguy
The clogged sewers in our own back yard have little to do with optiism. It is due to our short-sightedness of ourselves and of the media for not seeing ongoing maintenance of our infrastructure as important to our future. Too many of us do not work to maintain our possessions, our interpersonal relationships or even our bodies in good condition. The clogged sewers is just an extension of our clogged arteries and clogged divorce courts. That is just plain, old-fashioned sloth, not optimism.
Veronicaxy
Jalapeno, Mr Guy has a valid point. The health care debate is a great example. "We have the best health care system in the world" has been the rallying cry to defeat reform of insurance companies.
JalapenoBob
Veronicaxy
Political lies are not optimism. Political liars are nothing more than confidence men who are attempting for illicit gains of some sort, often money or power. Most should be in jail, but we persist in electing them to public office. Optimism does not describe something we have, as in "we have the best ... in thw world", but what we can achieve if we personally (not governmentally) dedicate our efforts and resources to advance our cause.
Veronicaxy
Jalapeno:
American Heritage Dictionary definition for optimism:
"A tendency to expect the best possible outcome or *dwell on the most hopeful aspects of a situation*"
amapola101
Very interesting article.There is optimism,because when you see others suffering in a worst condition,we thank G-d things are not worst. BUT
amapola101
where is the rest of my post.?? We are optimistic, because religion, steps in and psychologist to help us survive,But people are miserable,scared, unemployed, and reality is things are very bad, for many but the greedy thieves .Those,without jobs,work ,feeling unproductive, not being to take care of your family, there is no mental health and happiness.!! Ofcourse Health is the most imp.but without productivity,income feeling valuable,there is none
stephschiff
Thank you! I'm one of those people that runs through the possible disasters and negative outcomes before making decisions. I research purchases and industries to death before committing to spending more than a few hundred dollars. People ask why I worry so much but my life is a lot less stressful than most people I know despite a severe chronic pain condition.
I bought a house that cost 30% less than the bank approved me for, I live well below my means so I can afford private school for my son and have an emergency fund sitting in the bank just in case. Not because I am wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but because living below my means gives me a feeling of security and preparedness for the future.
I watch so many people buy cars and houses first and then try to figure out how they can afford them. Then they wonder why disaster keeps striking (some people of course end up there due to unexpected illness, job loss, or some other personal catastrophe and I'm not referring to them). People make major decisions without any research or thought into the possible negative outcomes. It blows my mind when I see someone buy a used car without checking Consumer Reports and CarFax! I can't buy a blender without reading the reviews on Amazon first!
I may be overly cautious, but I certainly don't regret the time spent figuring out the best path to take - it's saved me a lot of time, heartache, and trouble.
sailormoon
stephschhiff,you are so right. But the culture,the society, the fashion industries, the advertisements, the bombardments from credit cards, the banks,all sold us so much glamour,lies, realtors,bankers,mortgagers, got ahold of people,and sold them fake dreams,while they profited. This country taught our youth to live on plastic. we grew out of control. And everyone is out to make the buck and make the consumer spend,and without that,paralization
MadameX
Finally! And I love all the folks who tell parents of disabled kids what a blessing it is. No bitterness allowed!
ckeaveney
The problem is, I don't remember Barbara Ehrenreich or anyone else saying these things during the subprime mortgage boom. I myself was counseled to take out an interest-only loan, and I had the money for a fixed-rate loan (which fortunately I got). She's right when she says they were telling people, This is your way in. Houses used to cost $60,000, now they cost $600,000, who knows what they're going to cost in 10 years. People are rich because they were let in, and we're going to let you in. Did anyone tell them where all this growth was going to come from? That it might not happen? No one wanted to hear it, but I don't recall Barbara Ehrenreich or anyone else trying. Usually the media will let in a token naysayer, even if they don't allow them to say much.
DougWhite
We may be doing the word "optimism" a disservice. Optimism is a crucial quality to success. What Ms. Ehrenreich is exposing is the unthinking reliance by some (too many) people on some vague goodness in the world to take care of people; who tend to not only rely on the unknown, but who are often those who really don't want to work all that hard anyway.
I've been in the corporate meetings she describes (I've just read the book) and she is spot on: there is a group-think mindset that often covers up realities; this is partly why Madoff did so much damage to charities.
We need to realize that acknowledging or dealing with reality is not a pessimistic act or mindset. In fact, confronting truths and doing what's necessary to change things that aren't good (I love her thinking about Elizabeth Cady Stanton) is actually the most optimistic action anyone can take.
sailormoon
The truth is, the optimisim speeches from the religious,or the positive are not working. People are miserable,unhappy,scared, feel,worthless,very down. This has been done by greedy persons, and no real leadership all these years in govt, and new improvement now. This presidency,is loosing support for those who really had hope He would bring positive change.Where is the work,jobs,help for bussinesses?Healthcare should have been after ,he has lost touch .no work,deficits wars, bailouts for banks,not americans.
Granite
What Joel Osteen preaches is a crock of shit--and somewhat evil. Instead of teaching people to be grateful for what they have (a fundamental Christian ideal), he worships greed and keeping up with the Joneses.
And if you don't get the bigger house you can surmise that either you're doing it wrong or God doesn't love you. Isn't God supposed to reach out to everyone?
Joel Osteen profits from selling people fake hope while keeping them on a treadmill of despair.
Thank you.
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