Forget thinking positive, Barbara Ehrenreich says think angry
Author Barbara Ehrenreich on “Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America”
In her new book, author Barbara Ehrenreich documents what she says is the destructive power of the positive thinking movement in the United States, from breast cancer to the workplace, to the economy, to politics as a whole. Ehrenreich opens the book by writing about her own experience with breast cancer culture after being diagnosed with the disease in 2000. She says in the prevailing positive thinking culture of America, breast cancer patients are urged to avoid feeling angry and instead find meaning and even uplift in the disease. She writes, “In the most extreme characterization, breast cancer is not a problem at all, not even an annoyance—it is a ‘gift,’ deserving of the most heartfelt gratitude.” [includes rush transcript]
Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/13/author_barbara_ehrenreich_on_bright_sided
She suggests, among other things, that the “thinking positive” mindset places you on equal footing with whatever you are facing (even if you’re not) and also suggests that it’s all up to you to triumph and if you don’t, it’s your fault you failed and no one else’s.
Forget that cancer is not entirely understood. Forget that fate can throw curve balls at you. Forget that sometimes there are damn good reasons to get angry.
Ehrenreich is right when she suggests that “thinking positive” may not always be enough and sometimes may be the wrong way to go entirely.
It’s just more of the over-individualization of our society. Where an unfair amount of responsibility is placed with the individual rather than taking a critical look at where responsibility may really lie.
For instance, with cancer, I always come back to the idea that it’s absurd that the USG spends over a trillion dollars on keeping us safe from phantom menaces in the desert but a comparable pittance to help find a cure for cancer, which kills hundreds of thousands of people yearly. It’s absurd. But no—it’s your fault you’re dying of cancer, because you didn’t think positive enough.