"Smile or Die!" Positivism in a Realist Society

Psst! I have a secret for you. It is so secret that I am posting it on the Internet. This “secret” will help you achieve happiness and success in your life. It will elevate you to the higher levels of consciousness and, most importantly, make you filthy, stinking rich. Are you ready for the “secret”? Here goes… Positive Thinking movements are bullshit! The sooner you realize this as a ploy to keep you happy and oblivious, the sooner you can become self-aware, and acknowledge your right to get pissed off.

The notions of Positive Thinking, and the power of thought in general, have been around for years, but it has made its mark on pop culture with films like “What the Bleep Do We Know” that spiraled out of control and generated “Down the Rabbit Hole” and, most famously, “The Secret.” These films, along with motivational self-help books, promised that your dreams would come true if you only utilize optimism, and the power of visualization in a productive way. “The Secret” even suggested taking the time out of your day to meditate on the things you want most. Go-ahead, imagine yourself driving that new convertible. Feel the wind blowing in your hair and forget the fact that you only have $20 in your bank account (after paying $35 for this crappy show) and a can of beans for dinner. Somehow, without any (or very little) scientific basis for their findings, “What the Bleep” said that positive thinking could change the molecular structure of the water in your cells and make you more happy or healthy. This reminds me of the time when I was little and my grandmother used to “energize” water in front of the TV during Anatoly Kashpirovsky’s shows (a spiritual healer in the former Soviet Union). Somehow the water was meant to cure you of aches and pains. Of course, in my grandmother’s case the pains were so intense that she would drink jugs of this stuff and then complain of being boated.

It seems that what is missing is the explanation of positive thinking. Being optimistic will not make you wealthy, visualizing your cancer as a “small, easily squashed creature” (www.healingcancernaturaly.com) will not make it go away, and meditating on that car you want will not make it appear in your driveway. What positive thinking does is enables you to work towards your goals. Yet, people spend millions on books and videos that promise ultimate bliss and a quick fix. There are even websites that say that if you are not getting the things you want from positive thinking, than you are doing it wrong (i.e. www.successconsciousness.com). So, we read these sites, buy these books, watch these videos and walk around with big dumb grins on our faces thinking that it will be okay, that some how the Universe will provide if we are only thankful and positive (“thank you for the $20 in my bank account, now if only I had $2million…[insert dream bubble here]”). Yet, isn’t it clear that this movement has taken the idea of human drive and will power and turned it into a huge scam? So, here’s my solution and it won’t cost you a cent – I’ll call it “The Power of Realizing That Your Life Sucks and Not Being Afraid to Voice It”:

- If you are broke – get a job. I understand that you are educated and you can’t just settle for whatever comes your way, but realistically, a Women Studies degree won’t get you very far. (This advice is more for me…)

- If you want that awesome car, but have no money – well, friend, suck it up! Take some photos in front of the car and make it your profile picture on Facebook. We all know you don’t really want the car, you only want the respect that comes with it.

- Most importantly, take the comfort in small thing. You don’t need more stuff to be happy, you just have to change the outlook on the stuff you already have. Happiness does not lie somewhere in the universe (or in some bullshit self-help fad), it lies within. Be happy if you are happy, be angry if you are angry, and cry if you need to. You are not doing anything wrong, you are just being human.


Resources:

-Barbara Ehrenreich Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America (2009).

- A cartoon version of a chapter from Ehrenreich's book (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo ) ~ A must watch!

- If you want to keep deluding yourself, here’s a book you won’t want to miss Thank You for Firing Me!: How to Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your Job by Kitty Martini and Candice Reed (I’d be cautious, however, of taking advice from a person whose name is both a baby animal and a drink)

- Everyone, start monitoring your thoughts! (http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/positive-thinking/thoughts.asp)~ as you see this is a learning process. You'll be happy to know, however, that Anil Bhatnagar, the writer of this article, has many books for you to purchase that can help you learn this process...

- Demotivational posters blog (http://verydemotivational.com/page/2/) ~ in case your day is going just a little too good :)

Save Money. Live Better?

The other day I came across an article in “Adbusters” that said that the average person sees about 3000 ads a day. That means that in a year we are exposed to 109,500 advertisements. These kinds of numbers terrify me and make me question the values of this society. Moreover, they make me question the value I hold as a citizen. Who am I? Am I a student? A woman? A wife? A friend? No, what these numbers suggest is that I am (predominantly) a consumer. I am not exposed to 109,500 messages a year about how to be a good person, I am exposed to the messages that tell me how to shop. Therefore, according to this logic, my true value lies in my spending power.

For the last two years (2008-2009) Walmart (the obvious villain), for example, made $806 billion dollars in sales alone (dailyfinance.com). Yet, according to Anup Shah (2010), the editor of globalissues.com, “the world’s poorest countries (roughly 60 countries classified as low-income by the World Bank) owe […] $523 billion” in 2002. (This is collective debt, as Shah makes no distinction of individual countries in his article). It seems to me that what is at stake here is not the quality of life, but the value of it. Since the people in the poorest countries do not spend as much money as people in the rich countries (or their money does not have as much value as the all mighty dollar), it makes it okay to take their resources, and enslave and kill them indiscriminately to get the materials that are needed to make the goods that we (the valued customers) buy at Walmart.

Think about it. When you buy a $9 t-shirt at Walmart, how much of that $9 goes towards paying for the people in Bangladesh that made the shirt for you? How much of this price goes towards the people that tended to the cotton from which this shirt is made? My guess is probably not very much (it also does not account for the health risks associated with working in these factories and plantations). Yet, being a student and hence perpetually poor, I understand the plight of the lower class. It is expensive to live in this world and places like Walmart offer a haven of low prices and abundance of product. However, goods that are bought at low prices (commonly knows as “cheap-crap”) do not last that long and we (the poor schmoes) are forced to go back to Walmart and purchase the same cheap-crap that has failed in the first place. Thus the cycle of crap begins! We buy and throw away – lather and repeat. Annie Leonard, the founder of “The Story of Stuff Project,” states that the life of most electronics lasts about 3 months, which is purposefully done to keep you buying. General Electric, for example, does not profit from making things that last, they profit from things that break.

So, where is the integrity? Where is the pride in what you make? Nowhere! Let’s face it, when it comes to consumerism, business ethics are dead. The integrity and responsibility falls on you, the consumer. What can you do to help? It’s simple,

- Buy local whenever possible (Farmers’ Markets should be your frequent stop).

- Take pride in your ownership and, as a result, buy things to be proud of (not cheap-crap). This help your stuff last longer, which will make you shop less.

- Think about what you buy. Do you really need five Glade products or a Swiffer product for every surface in your house? What’s wrong with a wet cloth for dusting?

In other words, be a responsible consumer. Corporations will always be corrupt – this is a burden of living in a monetary economy. You, however, can make choices that tell these companies that people matter, not stuff.

Resources:

http://transfair.ca/en/products/products-canada Excellent source of fair trade products in Canada.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/ The Story of Stuff Project

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ You don’t want to be them :)

http://wakeupwalmart.com/facts/ Facts that you should know about Walmart

http://transfair.ca/en/business-centre/registered-companies List of companies that are registered as fair trade.

Also, support your local Farmers’ Market!

Image taken from www.anunews.net