I’m OK; You’re doomed
Let’s get a mood check on America in the waning days of February 2009.
CNN’s latest poll finds that close to “eight in 10 [Americans] say that things are going badly in the country, with just 21 percent suggesting that things are going well.”
No surprise there.
But here’s something weird: “Three out of four questioned say that things are going well for them personally.”
Huh?
Looks like another example of what David Whitman calls the “optimism gap.” People tend to look at their own situation and say it’s fine — but assume that they must somehow be exceptional. My marriage is strong, but marriage in general is weak. My school is great, but public education stinks. My American car works fine, but American cars are shoddy.
Alas, the two views — I’m doing great, but the rest of the country is going to hell in a hand basket — are incompatible. But which is more accurate? And does it even matter? As we saw again in the stock market today, if enough people think everyone else is doomed, eventually they’ll doom themselves.
We used to wonder, “Is the glass half full or half empty?”.
But now we say “My glass so full, and theirs so empty!”
Do most people believe things are going badly because they have personal evidence of it, or is it because they are told that things are going badly?
Or it might be the definition of badly. During difficult times, often people are able to find joy (or meaning) in the things they do have even if economically it is worse for them.
It’s possible that the differential in the responses aren’t as optimistic as they sound, when just looking at the numbers.
Perhaps people polled don’t want to admit to what they deem a personal failure in some way. It can also be a notion that while perhaps someone complains about ‘having it bad’, they see others who have it worse and ask themselves how bad is mine really?… It’s all perspective at the time the question is asked. –And could depend on how the question is asked.
And, for some, they may be truly fine, with a first or second hand notion of the difficulties others may be experiencing.
Perhaps this speaks to an optimism gap, or perhaps it speaks to a sense of solidarity.
It seems that 8 out of 10 people know that when 25% of the population, all are collectively worse off- and the country is in rough shape.
Perhaps individually we realize there is more to life than the economy.
Honestly many of us will be better off if the economy slows down: less pointless work, less pointless consumption, lower prices, and less anxiety about keeping up with the Joneses. Just keeping a head above water seems like an achievement.
We’ve been trained to see the economy as a measure of personal well being. It contributes but it’s not all that matters.
“everything in this world, including money, operates not on reality — but the perception of reality” http://bit.ly/qzEN5
I would be one who would say that things are going well for me, but not for lots of others. In my household of 3 adults, I am the only one working FT. One was laid off of his job of 40 years. The other has been looking for FT for over a year. She has a bachelor’s degree. Another friend was laid off after 35 years at her job. Many others that I know have lost their jobs. All this being said, I feel quite hopeful for our country. As some others have already commented, there is more to life than money (though definitely nice to have some of it).
Feelings are very similar in Europe as well:
http://zturk.blogactiv.eu/archives/112
Depends upon what you mean by the word “well?” I got up this morning. I was able to make it to the kitchen and fire up the coffeepot. The laptop logged on to the network without a hitch, a big problem yesterday that a friendly “geek” solved for me.
By my personal units of measure, so far, so well.
My mantra has become: be grateful for what you had, be grateful for what you have, be grateful for what you will have.
That just about covers it. Life marches on.
I’m so glad you chose to post on this topic!! I was thinking recently that although things are economically shaky for many, the gravity of the circumstances seem to be responsible for a real sense of empathy, gratitude and togetherness in many of my circles. If that is a broad trend, and lots of folks are indeed cultivating new outlooks–outlooks which leave them feeling optimistic about their own circumstances–I would love to see more media focus on that.
I suppose I could say my job is secure, so I’m doing great! On the other hand, I see down my hall dozens of signs posted on the doors of coworkers who are not so secure as I am – in fact, got letters about how they might all lose their jobs in a couple months – that say “I LOVE MY JOB!” These are decent, honest people that do a great job we may be losing.
Then you have me: cynical, irritable, but my job is secure. I’m the guy that has the luxury of reading “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko” (excuse, ironically legitimate = research for work) and thinking that “there has to be a better job out there for me!” I bet people are wondering how I can even dare think of going to graduate school in this economy! Meanwhile, others hope I’ll get on with it soon so they can find a job opening.
Katryn hit the nail dead on the head though. My job might be secure right now and I might have some great personal options, but I’m not stupid. If decent people are being laid off for specious reasons, then we know we’ve arrived in hell. Oh, right. LOL. “It could be worse!”
A similar phenomena: Congress is doing a terrible job, but my Congress member is entirely worthy of re-election. This is why I have cut my morning TV news time down to 15 minutes. I can only take so much doom and gloom before my emotional state responds in kind. I’ve exchanged the time for reading and it has greatly increased my quality of life.
I completely agree. I have friends that are freaking out about the economy, yet everything is going great for them individually. Given the complexity of reality, what is to be believed, especially when it comes to the main stream media. My personal economy and micro climate are what is relevant to me… but at the same time I don’t want to be an isolationist. How do I do both? That is my current inquiry.
This perception gap is the scariest thing of all. I’m doing fine financially, but I won’t go out to eat or buy a new car because I might need that money later. It is a self prophecy. And the news media has created much of the hysteria. Because the media business is and has been having problems long before the downturn – going through a seismic change from terrestrial to digital. The same can be said of other industries like restaurants.
Dear Mr. Pink,
I think you might be interested in the blog that a friend and I created, it’s called: Daily Delights and Daily Drags. It’s a site, in which people can express themselves about the things in which they derive small pleasure. They may also be apt to express themselves about daily drags. There have been ‘hits’ from all over the world (see map). Anyway, we thought it would be great if you would ‘contribute’. Thank you, Hope