Barbara Ehrenreich on the 'Delusional' Cult of Positive Thinking
"Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World"
She argues that the19th-century "quack theory", applied to everything from corporate strategy to coping with cancer, dominates life in the USA.
Ehrenreich explained her view saying: "Delusion is always dangerous...the big example I would give is the 2008 financial meltdown...Many people got way over their heads in debt...and in what frame of mind do you assume large amounts of debt?...a positive frame of mind. You think that you're not going to get sick, your car's not going to break down, you're not going to lose your job."
Business leaders too had worked themselves up into what she called a state of "mandatory optimism." Mortgage lender Countrywide, which suffered huge losses in the subprime fiasco, is cited as typical of businesses that elevated positive thinking over rational thinking. Lehman Brothers too were caught up in the "just-think-it'll-be-OK" mindset. They dismissed accurate warnings about looming financial disaster as negative thinking.
"Corporate America had gone into this bubble of denial where bad things could never happen," Ehrenreich said. "Motivational" speakers earn big money in the States by pushing the message to companies, their executives and staff that they can get or achieve whatever they want as long as they think about it in a positive way. Ehrenreich comments sensibly: "that's nuts, frankly."
The book also accuses Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra, (the self-help guru), of promoting and gaining from the positive thinking industry.
Her interest in the fashion for "positive thinking" began in earnest when she had breast cancer in 2000. She was taken aback by exhortations to be cheerful, wear "sappy pink ribbons" and even view cancer as 'life-enhancing'.
She argues that the approach is irrational as there's no proven relationship between thinking positively and boosting the immune system. And even if there were, it's not clear what links, if any, exist between the state of the immune system and developing or recovering from any particular cancer. She was nevertheless repeatedly urged, ludicrously, to "embrace" the disease.
Let's hope the insistent cult of positive thinking is not replaced with an equally unbalanced gloomy outlook in this decade. Time perhaps for some rational thought and a bit of balance.
Published by Catherine Dagger
READ CATH'S BLOG on daily life in Provence, south of France, at: http://provencesouthoffrance.blogspot.com Cath lives in Provence. In the past she lived in Washington DC., England, Scotland and Italy. Sh... View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentActually, laughter HAS been proven to boost the immune system (Look up Norman Cousins). As has performing or watching someone else perform an act of kindness. There is a definite link between our mind and our body: our brain sends messages (in the form of chemicals) to every cell in the body, to either grow or go into a defensive state. If the latter state lasts too long, the cell will die. Therefore, it is much healthier to live in love than in fear.