The terrorists are still out there, plotting against America. Could be, though, the fearsome bird flu gets us before they do.
Last month consumer confidence took the biggest hit recorded in 15 years. A recent Gallup Poll showed that about 6 in 10 Americans were dissatisfied with the way things are going in this country. Gasoline prices are painful and heating your home this winter may require a second mortgage. Nothing works as advertised, and that goes double for government at all levels. Bureaucrats fiddled while New Orleans drowned and now we’re getting stuck with a $200 billion bill. The global icecap is melting.
Everything that can go wrong, it seems, is. (Except for White Sox fans.)
A mantra of gloominess seems to have descended on much of America. There’s so much bad news that it’s hard to know what to get depressed about first. It’s a dreary Monday morning of the soul, proving that even America, the most powerful and optimistic nation on Earth, is not immune from a bout of pessimism every now and then.
But why now? There’s always a generous share of bad news in the world. Is there simply more of it now, or is it worse than usual?
Our theory: the spectacle of New Orleans wallowing in misery for days while federal, state and local officials dithered was nearly as disturbing–depressing–as the Sept. 11 attacks and the monumental failure of U.S. intelligence. But instead of inspiring renewed national purpose and unity, as 9/11 did, all we got was a lot of bureaucratic finger-pointing.
Living in the world’s sole superpower, Americans always feel that we largely control our fate, that we can bend others, even nature, to our will. Katrina blew that away, at least temporarily.
That has left us shaken, not stirred.
Measuring the national mood is an imperfect science. Social scientists and others have tried to concoct a “gross national happiness” scale, along the lines of how economists measure gross domestic product. This would take into account not just industrial output and the flow of money into and out of wallets, but also access to health care, the amount of free time with family, care of natural resources and other factors.
Even without those scales, some countries know they’re deep in the doldrums. Germany, for instance, is spending $35 million on a public service campaign to lift the country out of its collective funk. Its slogan: “Beat your wings and uproot trees. You are the wings. You are the tree. You are Germany.”
Maybe it loses something in the translation.
We mention this bleak outlook with some trepidation. When former President Jimmy Carter publicly and eloquently pointed out in 1979 that Americans seemed to be suffering through a “crisis of confidence,” he was ridiculed for his choice of sweaters and his pessimism.
Know what Carter said? “The threat [to America] is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.”
That was dubbed the “malaise” speech, though he never uttered that dangerously freighted French word in the speech. Still, it helped get the depressingly preachy Carter dumped in 1980 in favor of Ronald Reagan’s “morning in America.”
Which may explain why you’re feeling bad, yet none of the politicians are willing to say that you’re feeling bad.
What the heck, no one here has to run for re-election, so we’ll tell you that you feel bad and that’s OK. It’s OK to unleash the inner curmudgeon once in a while. You want to be dour for a day or six? Go ahead. A little grumbling is good for the soul. Some people glide through life with happiness unbounded, optimism overflowing. Those people can be annoying.
But to risk just a wee bit of optimism, remember, some of what contributes to the current melancholy is likely to turn out to be wrong. Like all those reports of rampant crimes in New Orleans, which turned out to be exaggerated. Or the incessant stream of warnings about what to eat and what to avoid. You didn’t avoid and you’re still here.
A study earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed more than a decade of major medical studies, the kind that often create front page headlines with dire warnings. The result: nearly one-third of the original, much ballyhooed results did not hold up. They were either dead wrong or exaggerated.
Recently, science has touted two new wonder drugs: coffee and chocolate. Yes, that’s right. There seems to be solid evidence and we’re inclined to give both the benefit of the doubt.
Our suggestion: massive daily doses. Pretty soon, you’ll find, the gloom will lift.
