Dear Friends at URI,
It's laughable... I say I am a realist, yet I am addicted to the horoscope. Today, I read eagerly: "You will wear a bewildered expression owing to some astounding good news. Your hard work was bound to pay off." Sure enough, later this morning my jaw dropped and I was astounded to learn that one of my personal heroes, Barbara Ehrenreich, has a new book out there, The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America.
I have friends and colleagues who are true believers about being positive and there is no arguing with them about it. Maybe that is why I am delighted to discover Barbara Ehrenreich is championing my own view, which is that Positive Thinking, for all its charm, is out of touch. Realism, like peace, has suddenly become legitimate.
And realism really isn't so bad. If we look at humanity's future realistically, there is some good news: we can no longer support our old bad habits. Every one of us is needed at our full potential if we are to avert massive ecological or nuclear catastrophe. Obviously we cannot afford wars and military spending, so peace is now realistic. To reach our full potential, we must deliver on the basics of social justice: food, education, health care for all and a decent place to live, so a more egalitarian and caring society is now realistic. The win-lose approach is not a real alternative any more. We all win or we all lose.
Necessity is a grand ally, and necessity is now on the win-win, unity-and-diversity, inclusive side. If you are not against us, you are for us. This is also what Obama has been saying. Here he is in Prague this last spring: "[Our challenges] demand that we listen to one another and work together; that we focus on our common interests, not on occasional differences; and that we reaffirm our shared values, which are stronger than any force that could drive us apart."
All the best from a(n upbeat) realist,
-- Roger Eaton
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