June 10, 2008

Optimists and Pessimists Have Exchanged Roles

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman

The United States has a long tradition of optimism and historically, the public responds to an optimistic presidential candidate.I learned in my childhood that Democrats believed in the goodness of man, the perfectibility of institutions, and a belief that life is better for them than for their ancestors.

Conservative Republicans, however, believed that man was basically flawed and needed to be constrained by government and domestic and international security were the main duties of government. However, they feared that government, when unrestrained, could become an evil tyrant- a lesson from history that had plenty of evidence. America's balance of powers protected us from such tyranny, they believed.

Something has changed over the years: Conservatives have an optimistic view of the future (and present) of our country, and liberals have fallen into a pattern of pessimism. What many of them call "wanting a better country" has degenerated into a habit of carping, criticizing, and refusing to recognize any news as good news. It has also picked up one of the old conservatives' worst habits - belief in conspiratorial myths. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who saw communist under every bed, has morphed into today's radical Leftists, who disbelieve any official account of anything but fervently believe in evidence from the Internet.

• The Economy. The new pessimists believe that America is finished, that we are in a current recession and a future decline from economic power. The numbers do not support this view, but it is carped on over and over by the 24/7 press.

• Poverty. The pessimists also believe that the world is full of poverty and that it is the fault of the greedy United States. The fact is that in the past two decades alone, since the pipedream of communism collapsed, global poverty has been reduced as never before in human history. Former basket case countries are starting to thrive.

• Violence. The pessimists believe that violence and warfare around the world has increased, which they attribute to greedy multinationals. The fact is that international violence has plummeted since its high point in the 1970s and 1980s - and those who have studied the history of human conflict have said that global civility has increased enormously since antiquity. The death rate in war in tribal societies averaged at least 25%; it is today a miniscule .005%.

• Quality of Life. The pessimists complain that America has an unacceptable number of people living in poverty and hunger. They also cite the number of homeless. The truth is that even those who consider themselves poor have televisions, can afford cigarettes, liquor, and illicit drugs, and even find expensive designer footwear a necessity. The social network sees that nobody starves. The number of homeless, of course, is inflated by able-bodied youngsters with drug habits. Can't we fix that?

• The Iraq War. The pessimists do not want their prejudices challenged. The Iraq war was indeed a mess, primarily because two missions were conflated: one to remove a dictator and the other to establish a viable democracy. The U.S. succeeded in the first in record time; but the second takes much more skill and time than were invested. However, the learning curve caught up with the Administration and Iraq is beginning to show results. In Basra, young women are daring to wear jeans, Iraqi soldiers listen to pop music on their mobile phones and bands are performing at wedding parties again. This was impossible a few weeks ago. Who rescued them? The American-trained Iraqi Army, which is beginning to show backbone.

In Baghdad, city parks are once more open to families and to children who play soccer - and are safe walking and lingering outside of an ice cream store, with welcome U.S. foot patrols. The poor, downtrodden Iraqis are just now starting to have hope for their future. Reporters interview these people and the news is available. However, if the last time you were there was 2006 and you don't want your mind changed (Barack Obama), your policy may reflect a false view.

I am an optimist - and still a Democrat.Could that mean the tide is turning?