BlogHer - Optimism, Pessimism or Realism: How Do You Look At The Economy? - Comments

Thank you for the link, Yvette

Maria Niles — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:08:33 -0500

That is a very interesting article. I've certainly thought that this whole situation could lend itself to deep analysis from frameworks including psychology and game theory. The reaction is as fascinating as the situation itself.

Black Swans and the Economy

Yvette Perry — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:14:58 -0500

Another, related view has to do with our human inability to judge risks, particularly risks of low-occurence events. An interesting article to read related to this is a recent Edge piece by Nassim Taleb, author of "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable." Taleb is writing mainly about the economists and other experts who do the forcasting, but I think a similar mindset can happen with laypeople regarding their own personal finances.

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Realism would be great

Maria Niles — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:39:09 -0500

Yes, realism all around would be good. I hope that this episode also opens some eyes that we have to be engaged and demand accountability from our representatives and not allow them to continue to work more in the corporate interest than in our interest.

Thanks for your thoughtful insight, Pam.

ConsumerPop Marketing
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May I recommend Deb's technique?

Maria Niles — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:34:25 -0500

Mindless distraction - rising blood pressure is not good. But I feel you. It is so disheartening especially to see so many in distress when those who created this situation aren't really having to experience the consequences of their actions.

Thanks for your comment, Kathy.

ConsumerPop Marketing
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Ouch

Maria Niles — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:30:54 -0500

Negotiating family at a time when you have issues of your own to deal with is tricky at best. While the support, I'm sure is nice, if it comes tangled up in strings - I don't know which is better...

Good luck.

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Tour de Economy

Maria Niles — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:25:47 -0500

Brilliant, Deb!

You shine an important though painful spotlight - those who don't have the years to ride this all out. I think mindless distraction is a smart refuge.

ConsumerPop Marketing
PopConsumer (Politics, Current Events & Links)
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A Hefty Dose of Realism

Pam — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:38:54 -0500

We're moderately freaked, but we live very much within our means, so our freaking is over an uncertain future and a reluctance to look at the retirement funds. I don't understand enough about economics to get the implications of allowing capitalism to stay the course, but I do understand enough to know that if we go around spending money we don't have the sh#t is going to hit the fan someday. Or was that three days ago.

Personally, I wish for a hefty does of reality across the wallets of US. I get that there are those using credit to patch together a solution to emergency situations. But I also feel angry about the profiligate spending, predatory lending, and never ending sprees of consumerism that our eoonomy encourages. It's irresponsible. It's like the nation needs to go back to being 12 years old and getting an allowance and learning how to save for the movies, a used car, a school trip...

Nerd's Eye View

Pedaling Hard

Kathy333 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:20:35 -0500

Tour de Economy, I love it! I go through all three as well. I try to remain optimistic-things must get better, the economy spikes and falls periodically. Yet I see people losing their jobs, single mothers struggling, families losing their homes, and it sickens me that this has been permitted to happen by those who are greedy and were only thinking of themselves. And who in many cases will not be as affected as the people that they did this to. Erg. Now I have my blood pressure up again lol!

Kathy

Mama Marathoner

Allbusiness:Working Mothers

I live with my in-laws,

CantHardlyWait — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:05:48 -0500

I think I qualify for the pessimistic group. We're moving next month, though. I'm not sure what is more fun, nearly drowning in bills by ourselves, or nearly drowning in bills with the in-laws.

Cycling like Lance Armstrong...

debra roby — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:29:14 -0500

I'll admit I go through the whole cycle every minute or two. Can we start a Tour de Economy??

While my nature is to expect that in the long run we will recover and return to some kind of sane financial policy, in the short term I term words like "life-change" (maybe spouse retiring?) and instead of pairing them with "soon" have started pushing them out to "a few years".

When I read of upper-management golden parachutes, I anger. When I don't hear of help for home owners and small business owners, I anger more.

And when the anxiety gets too strong, I hide in some mindless distraction.

Debra
A Stitch In Time
Weight for Deb

Optimism, Pessimism or Realism: How Do You Look At The Economy?

Maria Niles — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:30:03 -0500

Author Barbara Ehrenreich posed a provocative thesis recently on her blog (a shorter version was also published in the New York Times). She describes How Positive Thinking Wrecked the Economy.

Greed – and its crafty sibling, speculation – are the designated culprits for the ongoing financial crisis, but another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.

What? Whoa - hold up a minute. The ruggedly optimistic spirit of can-do Americanism is wrong? Not just wrong, but led us to the crisis we are in today? Heresy!

If you follow The Secret and practice the law of attraction then you know that even thinking the words financial crisis will not only make it true but will make it worse by attracting more of what your thoughts are creating - crisis. Oprah would not be pleased.

Some believe that the approach to take towards what is happening in the economy is to apply a little tough love. No help for Wall Street or Main Street. Let the chips fall where they may. There will be pain but we will survive. Like the Depression.

Others think that extreme pessimism is the path. Credit is drying up, big business will fail, 401Ks will shrivel into tiny raisins of nothingness, small businesses unable to get credit will shutter their doors and lay off employees, and perhaps worst of all, no car loan for you. Bail, baby, bail.

Political consultants are advising bailout proponents to switch the term to rescue. Listen to the TV talking heads if you dare. The spin is in and the shiny, happy new language is propagating across networks and media as we speak.

Ehrenreich's conclusion argues for a middle path of realism:

When it comes to how we think, “negative” is not the only alternative to “positive.” As the case histories of depressives show, consistent pessimism can be just as baseless and deluded as its opposite. The alternative to both is realism – seeing the risks, having the courage to bear bad news, and being prepared for famine as well as plenty. Now, with our savings, our homes and our livelihoods on the line, we ought to give it a try.

Personally, I think I cycle through the three states. At times I am optimistic that for all our faults, problems, mistakes and folly - the American experiment, still young, remains resilient and we will make our way through. At other times my cynicism about the havoc wreaked by politicians of both parties in cahoots with greedy corporate overlords and the dire straights we as citizens have allowed them to put us in by not exercising our right to provide oversight means that we deserve every ounce of hurt that is coming our way. Neither view, however, is realistic or terribly helpful so I too try to chart a middle path. This is a wake up call that we must all work harder to be involved, to understand the situation, to push our representatives to act in our interest and to prepare to deal with the real consequences of what's ahead.

How about you? Chicken Little, Ostrich or somewhere in between?

At first I found this idea preposterous. If you don't dream big you won't achieve big! I thought of all the goals I made in life, had I expected not to get them, would I have worked so hard?

Frumpy Haus Frau: Optimism, Pessimism, and Realism in Economic Change

Change IS happening. Much of it is not good. It is not likely to get better any time soon. But that is ok, because I am prepared, and I am confident that I can succeed even in the face of economic hardship. I have a plan for my business that will allow it to go forward regardless. I have a plan for my life that will make me better situated to cope with it. I am not afraid to face challenge head on, because I know I can cope, even if bad things do happen.

I can be happy even if I don’t get what I want.

OTRGIRL at Sojournering: It can't get any worse, said the pessimist.

"No, dear. You're not a realist. If I tell you ten good things and then one bad thing, you only remember the bad thing. That means you're not being realistic, you just weight the bad. That makes you a pessimist."

"Hmm...that's a valid point. I'm a cynical pessimist then!"

BlogHer CE Maria Niles is surprisingly positive at her personal blog Beyond Help and looks at the economy on occasion at PopConsumer