[Ailist] Appreciation vs. Cynicism

[Kevin Kervick]

>From Michelle Obama in the New Yorker magazine:

Obama begins with a broad assessment of life in America in 2008, and life is 
not good: we’re a divided country, we’re a country that is “just downright 
mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and 
complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely 
making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just 
jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m 
young. Forty-four!”

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The conventional wisdom among some political observers is that these 
comments may be unhelpful to say out loud but they are true. My contention 
is they are not true and they reflect misguided and cynical all or nothing 
biases that are not supported by the facts.  Unfortunately there is much 
support for this line of thinking among liberal people, which may explain 
why liberals tend to be less appreciative and less happy than conservatives.

Not much appreciative inquiry here. If Ms. Obama is going to go on a reality 
tirade she should get it right.  I like Barack Obama's message of hope as 
long as it also includes appreciation of the essential goodness of the 
United States. Could she have made her point in a more appreciative way?

I have more on the Catalysts for Change blog at 
http://catalystsforchange.blogspot.com/.

Kevin Kervick