Too Positive?

Check out: Barbara Ehrenreich: The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

I think there is a difference between positivity vs. complacency on one hand and delusion on the other, even though I've never liked the corporate motivational speakers-types or advocates of unlimited prosperity and "The Secret" enthusiasts. Having a positive attitude works for humanity when it's coupled with a genuine understanding of reality and the challenges of the human experience. Positivity isn't about delusion (i.e. the Wall Street/'no housing bubble' mentality, etc.). It's about understanding your own personal power and the possibility of improvement and advancement. It's definitely possible to be realistic and positive at the same time. One way to see this realized is to look at expectations. If a person has unrealistic expectations (hence an unrealistic person), she is unlikely to be positive once those expectations aren't met, but if she were to base her expectations on what is actually possible under the current circumstances, positivity is easier to maintain.

A concrete example of this concerns the last presidential election. I knew someone who had somehow, perhaps unconsciously, convinced herself that a leftist third-party candidate had the chance of winning. When this didn't happened, she was extremely upset to the point of insanity, even though most of the left, even the Green Party-types, were celebrating because not only did the country elect its first other-than-white president, Obama happened to be more progressive than McCain, albeit not nearly as progressive as Cynthia McKinney and others. Most who had supported third-party candidates did so with the understanding that they would not win the election and probably not even win the critical 5% needed to gain further attention and access, so they were not upset when Barack Obama won. They held up their heads, and some were even excited about it.

This is not to say that we shouldn't think big, but we should do so while aiming small. This will keep us from suffering from the kind of delusional positivity that Ehrenreich is criticizing.

On the other hand, I believe she is also criticizing complacency with the status quo. This is also delusional thinking. If you're positive because you think things are fine the way they are in this country and the world, you need to read. It's as simple as that.