The Land of Optimism Is in the Dumps, But Refuses to Accept How It Got There

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/10/15/4548/

The Land of Optimism Is in the Dumps, But Refuses to Accept How It Got There

Not since Watergate has such pessimism afflicted Americans. They want politicians to lift them without facing the cause
by Gary Younge

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America, in short, is in a deep funk. Far from feeling hopeful, it appears fearful of the outside world and despondent about its own future. Not only do most believe tomorrow will be worse than today, they also feel that there is little that can be done about it.

There are three main reasons. Closest to home is the economy. Wages are stagnant, house prices in most areas have stalled or are falling, the dollar is plunging, and the deficit is rising. A Pew survey last week showed that 72% believe the economy is either “only fair” or poor and 76% believe it will be the same or worse a year from now. Globalisation is a major worry. Of 46 countries polled recently, the US had the least positive view on foreign trade and one of the least positive on foreign companies.

The sense that things will improve for the next generation has all but evaporated. Another Pew poll from last year found that only 34% of Americans expected today’s children to be better off than people are now - down from 55% shortly before President Bush came to power.

Second is the Iraq war and the steep decline in America’s international standing it has prompted. A global-attitudes Pew poll from last year showed that 65% of Americans believe the country is less respected by the rest of the world than it was - double the figure of 20 years ago. The fact that only half those polled thought this was a problem is telling.

snip//

Which brings us, finally, to the political class. Once again the American public have lost faith. The rot starts at the top. Almost as soon as they elected Bush in 2004 they seemed to regret it. Since Katrina, his favourability ratings have been stuck in the 30s and show no signs of moving - or at least not upwards. Bush’s only comfort is that public approval of the Democratically controlled Congress is even worse, hovering just below where it was shortly before the 2006 elections. In other words, however Americans believe their country will return to the right track, they no longer trust politicians to get them there.

Little suggests that anything will change any time soon. After four years of being told they were winning a war they have been losing and are better off when they are not, Americans are more wary of political happy talk than they have been for a long time. But that doesn’t mean they want to hear sad talk instead, even if it happens to be true. For the central problem is not that they were lied to - though that of course is a problem - but that they have constantly found some of these lies more palatable than the truth. Bush may have exploited the more problematic aspects of this optimism. But he did not create them. Enough of the American public had to be prepared to meet him halfway to make his agenda possible.

Herein lies the challenge for the presidential candidates in the coming year - how to respond to this pessimistic mood without reflecting or discussing its root causes: to lay out a plausible explanation of how Americans can get their groove back, without examining how they got in this rut in the first place.

[grasswire]

1. well, here's the problem

"Almost as soon as they elected Bush in 2004 they seemed to regret it"

They didn't elect him. They can't believe he's in office, cuz they sure didn't elect him.

[EVDebs]

2. Hey, wait a minute, a 2000 SCOTUS 'selection' and a stolen '04

Don't go blaming the people for this friggin' fiasco. We wanted progressive leadership and the M/I complex wanted something else. They got what THEY wanted and now they're regretting it too. Tough on them.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Still, the election was way to close.

In any sane world, Bush in 2004 would have gotten -- at most -- 10% of the vote, and stealing the White House for a second time would have been out of the question.

I do think the GOP cheated massively in '00, '02, '04, and probably '06, BUT ... an America that didn't have it's head lodged firmly up its own ass would never have produced the result that it did.

So you still do have to go blaming the people (an awful lot of them -- emphasis on awful) for this mess. We ALL should have known better by '04!

[KansDem]

3. Kill Your Television!

After four years of being told they were winning a war they have been losing and are better off when they are not, Americans are more wary of political happy talk than they have been for a long time. But that doesn’t mean they want to hear sad talk instead, even if it happens to be true. For the central problem is not that they were lied to - though that of course is a problem - but that they have constantly found some of these lies more palatable than the truth. Bush may have exploited the more problematic aspects of this optimism. But he did not create them. Enough of the American public had to be prepared to meet him halfway to make his agenda possible.

My empathy tank for pessimistic Americans is near empty. I see this "deep funk" daily and all I can say is "**** ***, America!!!"...go back to your blue screens and empty lives. You were warned, but you chose to side with the guy "you'd want most to have a beer with." You know, Mr. "Charm Offensive" and his mob.

It couldn't happen to a more-deserving people...

[MasonJar]

4. Have any of you read Ray Bradbury's short story, The Pedestrian"?

It is dead on in its conception of present day America.