Bright-sided：How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

ASharp-WittedKnockdownOfAmerica'SLoveAffairWithPositiveThinkingAndAnUrgentCallForANewCommitmentToRealismamericansAreA"Positive"People--Cheerful,Optimistic,AndUpbeat:ThisIsOurReputationAsWellAsOurSelf-Image.ButMoreThanATemperament,BeingPositive,WeAreTold,IsTheKeyToSuccessAndProsperity.InThisUtterlyOriginalTakeOnTheAmericanFrameOfMind,BarbaraEhrenreichTracesTheStrangeCareerOfOurSunnyOutlookFromItsOriginsAsAMarginalNineteenth-CenturyHealingTechniqueToItsEnshrinementAsADominant,AlmostMandatory,CulturalAttitude.EvangelicalMega-ChurchesPreachTheGoodNewsThatYouOnlyHaveToWantSomethingToGetIt,BecauseGodWantsTo"Prosper"You.TheMedicalProfessionPrescribesPositiveThinkingForItsPresumedHealthBenefits.AcademiaHasMadeRoomForNewDepartmentsOf"PositivePsychology"AndThe"ScienceOfHappiness."Nowhere,Though,HasBright-SidingTakenFirmerRootThanWithinTheBusinessCommunity,Where,AsEhrenreichShows,TheRefusalEvenToConsiderNegativeOutcomes--LikeMortgageDefaults--ContributedDirectlyToTheCurrentEconomicCrisis.WithTheMythbustingPowersForWhichSheIsAcclaimed,EhrenreichExposesTheDownsideOfAmerica'SPenchantForPositiveThinking:OnAPersonalLevel,ItLeadsToSelf-BlameAndAMorbidPreoccupationWithStampingOut"Negative"Thoughts.OnANationalLevel,It'SBroughtUsAnEraOfIrrationalOptimismResultingInDisaster.ThisIsEhrenreichAtHerProvocativeBest--PokingHolesInConventionalWisdomAndFauxScience,AndEndingWithACallForExistentialClarityAndCourage.