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The Negative Impact of Positive Thinking
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The Negative Impact of Positive Thinking

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The key to achieving the American dream is often said to be positive thinking, but Barbara Ehrenreich's new book argues that “Positive Thinking has Undermined America.”  For example, was the current  financial collapse the result of self-delusion from the top to the bottom? Also, the 2010 census, and tourism in Antarctica is expensive, but the real costs are to maritime safety and the environment.

Making News

US Set for 2010 Census ()

The Constitution requires a census at the beginning of every decade, and the Census Bureau has already projected that the total population of the United States is now 308,400,408. That projection allows a look ahead at the political future, because the number of seats a state has in Congress depends on population. Richard Cohen is Congressional reporter for the National Journal.

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Main Topic

The Negative Impact of Positive Thinking ()

Since the 19th Century, it's been an article of American faith that positive thinking leads to health and prosperity. In recent years, positive thinking's become a "minor industry," promising favorable outcomes in the real world. But has it made American business blind to reality? Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, Dancing in the Streets, and Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, calls it a "mass delusion" that helped cause September 11, the war in Iraq and the current financial disaster. What about the Science of Happiness and research on the brain waves of successful people? In this conversation, first broadcast in October of this year, we speak with Ehrenreich and others.

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Reporter's Notebook

The High Cost of Visiting Penguins in Antarctica ()

Last year, a cruise ship hit an iceberg and sank, leaving 154 people in lifeboats for hours in the waters of Antarctica's Weddell Sea.  Remarkably, nobody died.  Other ships touch land in the world's largest natural reserve, allowing passengers to go ashore to disturb wildlife, trample rare plants and leave rubbish behind.  Now 47 Antarctic Treaty nations are trying to impose what's called a Polar Code. Alan Hemmings is Professor at Canterbury University in New Zealand.  He is also an appointee to Australia's Antarctic Science Advisory Committee.

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  • Alan Hemmings: Australia's appointee, Antarctic Science Advisory Committee

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