According to Barbara Ehrenreich, positive thinking has long ago reached cult status in America.Try this experiment: The next time someone swats you with a bright and cheery “How are you?” – grimace, then look them straight in the eye. Carefully note how few seconds it takes for that person to suddenly have somewhere else to be. Perhaps it was the eye contact. More likely it was the discomfort with anything less than a chirpy “Fine!”
In the introduction to her book, Blind-sided: How positive thinking is undermining America, Ehrenreich
masterfully points out the difference between actual hope and pumped-up optimism. Whereas she defines
“hope” as “an emotion, a yearning, the experience of which is not entirely within our control,” she defines
“optimism” as a “cognitive stance, a conscious expectation, which presumably anyone can develop through practice.” Emphasis on presumably…
So what’s so bad about standing in front of a mirror and brushing up on one’s smile – not through flossing,
but through the presumed power of continuously telling oneself: I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…
Unfortunately, proclaimed practices of this kind have resulted more in “little engines that should” than in
“little engines that could.” Where did this prevalent belief (that it’s one’s duty as an American to think and act positively even - and especially - when everyday reality suggests otherwise) begin?
Ehrenreich points to 19th-century religion as a cornerstone of this trend. Whereas transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau began opening people’s minds to the vast possibilities of the Universe, many religionists soon began funneling this expanded consciousness into self-serving channels. This eventually culminated in the “prosperity” doctrines that are so prominent today – the ones that often seem so diametrically opposed to Christ’s own teachings.
Resources
http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/brightsidedexcerpt.htm
Copyright December 11, 2010 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment