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

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It's a hit!

The author of Nickel and Dimed has done it again: clear-eyed, honest reportage about a huge societal problem, from a smart, funny, diligent, compas... (show more)

The author of Nickel and Dimed has done it again: clear-eyed, honest reportage about a huge societal problem, from a smart, funny, diligent, compassionate woman. She takes on the general "think positive" attitude of Americans in a variety of arenas where it does real damage: abundance theology, the motivation industry, pseudo-psychology, corporate brainwashing, the pitiful economy, medicine. She exposes the charlatans and uncovers the real point of bright-siding: it helps only those who promote it and it can be devastating to the people they are promoting it to. Ehrenreich loses a bit of her journalistic tone with one of her subjects—he did seem particularly heinous—and she obviously has special disdain for corporate America, not only for its arrogant, dehumanizing efforts at mind-control. This reader is left wanting that the author expand a bit on her antidote for bright-siding: actually doing something to repair the world. That would go a lot further toward happiness for all involved, take people out of their self-serving “positive thinking” and make the world truly a more positive place. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

I have great hope that Babara will come to her happy place. Still, she does make good points, with documented findings. Does she know the REAL se... (show more)

I have great hope that Babara will come to her happy place. Still, she does make good points, with documented findings. Does she know the REAL secret? (show less)

 

 

by Marylee Raymond Diamond

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  Several years ago, as a barely-adult me, I had a friend who signed up for one of those "positive thinking" seminars that are all the rage. It was multiple thousands of dollars and the whole seminar was an attempt to get more people to go by requiring them to talk to their friends about the seminars and tell them how great they were, as well as to sell more tickets to even more seminars and retreats, not to mention the scores of tapes, books and other material that went along with i... (show more)

  Several years ago, as a barely-adult me, I had a friend who signed up for one of those "positive thinking" seminars that are all the rage. It was multiple thousands of dollars and the whole seminar was an attempt to get more people to go by requiring them to talk to their friends about the seminars and tell them how great they were, as well as to sell more tickets to even more seminars and retreats, not to mention the scores of tapes, books and other material that went along with it.

  I gamely went to one of the sessions. They taught you to do things like "smile even if you don't feel happy, because eventually you will", and other claptrap. I had a hard time following along. It felt too much like a cult, and too much like what going to church felt like even when I knew I didn't believe in religion, or god for that matter. In short, it felt creepy... like some guy offering you candy out of his van. Even though I didn't buy it, I did try to buy into - for several years - the idea that self-help books could actually help me, even though they all had the same core message - think positively - to the extent of blocking out reality - and good things will happen to you.

  So, when I heard Barbara on The Daily Show talking about this book, I immediately wanted to read it. Not only because her writing style and subjects have always appealed to me, but because I had some experience with this particular world. Like all of her books, she delves deeply into what makes up the 'Positive Thinking' movement, and where it all started from. She doesn't hold punches and hits up every part of the movement, including the religious aspect and how it's become so ingrained in our corporate world that 'Positive Thinking' can be held greatly responsible for the economic downturn.

  I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a definite win for the critical thinkers of the world. My favorite quote is at the beginning of the last chapter:

  "The alternative to both is to try to get outside of ourselves and see things as they are, or as uncolored as possible by our own feelings and fantasies. To understand the world is full of both danger and opportunity. The chance of great happiness as well as the certainty of death." (show less)

   

   

  by Stacy Griebel on Oct 27, 2009 at 08:41PM

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  I liked the concept of Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book -- that obsessively insisting on a constant positive focus and ignoring the more difficult sides of life and society can have perilous consequences -- but I think the book itself could have been written better. The alternative to the constant "rah rah" positivism, realism and critical thinking, is tacked on at the end and could have been further developed. People LIKE positive attitudes and people who tell us happy stories, s... (show more)

  I liked the concept of Barbara Ehrenreich's latest book -- that obsessively insisting on a constant positive focus and ignoring the more difficult sides of life and society can have perilous consequences -- but I think the book itself could have been written better. The alternative to the constant "rah rah" positivism, realism and critical thinking, is tacked on at the end and could have been further developed. People LIKE positive attitudes and people who tell us happy stories, so it can be difficult to read a book that is basically saying that this is not always wise - sometimes we need to confront the scientific facts, watch the news, and not get lost in la la land. The historical development of the Positive Thought movement is interesting to read, I just would have liked to have heard more about individuals, groups, or countries who are promoting critical thinking. A skill our species desperately needs to cultivate... (show less)

   

   

  by Rose Hickey on Nov 10, 2009 at 03:06PM

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