[Peace] [Peace-discuss] join peace-action list serve / you are invited to brainstorm actions for peace

[C. G. Estabrook]

Read the book.  Or at least the reviews.

What I would not have believed - and the incident that makes me think Ehrenreich
is on to something - is that, while the US president is fighting a vicious
imperial war half way around the word (and lying about it), there should be a
frenzied attempt to keep political discussion off the email list of a purported
anti-war group - on the grounds of its "negativity"!

This is silliness of a fairly high order; the person calling for it is not
stupid, so it requites another explanation...  --CGE


Jean Mendoza wrote:
> Oh, yes, Publisher's Weekly is known for its insight into social trends... 
> <:-~
> 
> I have not seen Ehrenreich's book, but what Carl presents is fair game for 
> deconstruction... "Reckless national penchant for self-delusion", yes -- but 
> there was/is also rampant delusion on the pessimistic side, a willingness to,
>  for example, see WMD where there were none and to follow "leaders" who tap 
> into the worst aspects of human nature (whatever it may be), willingness to 
> build a hideously ugly, pointless "wall" along the border with Mexico, and 
> the list goes on and on. Those are not the result of "optimism" but of 
> pessimism -- a sense that Something Awful will happen if one doesn't Do 
> Something (albeit something stupid, mean-spirited, expensive, and ultimately 
> useless).  And as for that supposed "lack of anxious vigilance, necessary to 
> societal survival" -- just read or listen to Beckreillybaugh, the teabaggers,
>  the border vigilantes, the barely closeted racists who are fit to be tied 
> that somebody white is not occupying the White House. There is NO shortage of
>  anxious vigilance in the US. But I doubt that their sort of vigilance is 
> necessary to societal surv! iv! al. My impression is that they are vigilant 
> in the wrong direction.
> 
> I'm hoping that Barbara Ehrenreich's assessment of the need for negativity is
>  more nuanced than what PW has apparently provided.
> 
> Jean M.
> 
> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:50:23 -0500 (CDT) From: "C. G. Estabrook" 
>> <galliher at illinois.edu> Subject: Re: [Peace] [Peace-discuss] join 
>> peace-action list serve / you are	invited to brainstorm actions for peace 
>> To: "Jenifer Cartwright" <jencart13 at yahoo.com>, peace at lists.chambana.net, 
>> "Peace-discuss List" <Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>, "Karen Medina" 
>> <kmedina67 at gmail.com>
>> 
>> Why, what could Jenifer possibly mean by "less negativity"?
>> 
>> I had thought Barbara Ehrenreich's recent book ("Bright-sided: How the 
>> Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America") was a 
>> bit overstated, but here's the peace-discuss list to prove me wrong once 
>> again:
>> 
>> "Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed) delivers a trenchant look into the 
>> burgeoning business of positive thinking. A bout with breast cancer puts 
>> the author face to face with this new breed of frenetic positive thinking 
>> promoted by everyone from scientists to gurus and activists. Chided for her
>>  anger and distress by doctors and fellow cancer patients and survivors, 
>> Ehrenreich explores the insistence upon optimism as a cultural and national
>>  trait, discovering its symbiotic relationship with American capitalism and
>>  how poverty, obesity, unemployment and relationship problems are being 
>> marketed as obstacles that can be overcome with the right (read: positive) 
>> mindset. Building on Max Weber's insights into the relationship between 
>> Calvinism and capitalism, Ehrenreich sees the dark roots of positive 
>> thinking emerging from 19th-century religious movements. Mary Baker Eddy, 
>> William James and Norman Vincent Peale paved the path for today's secular 
>> $9.6 billion self-improvement industry and positive psychology institutes.
>> The author concludes by suggesting that the bungled invasion of Iraq and
>> current economic mess may be intricately tied to this reckless national
>> penchant for self-delusion and a lack of anxious vigilance, necessary to
>> societal survival." (Publishers Weekly)
>> 
>> ---- Original message ----
>>> Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:32:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Jenifer Cartwright 
>>> <jencart13 at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] [Peace] join 
>>> peace-action list serve / you are invited to brainstorm actions for peace
>>>  To: peace at lists.chambana.net, Peace-discuss List 
>>> <Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>, Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com>
>>> 
>>> Karen et al, Peace-action would not solve the problem that most concerns 
>>> me. Yr last item, "* discuss potential actions to promote peace," is one 
>>> of the things that happens on Peace-discuss (think Karl Rove protest). If
>>>  we want a listserv w/ a more positive outlook, we need less negativity
>>> on the part of those posting. Until that's the case, peace-action would
>>> mean a second listserv available for negative stuff. --Jenifer --- On
>>> Sun, 3/14/10, Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: Karen Medina <kmedina67 at gmail.com> Subject: [Peace] join 
>>> peace-action list serve / you are invited to brainstorm actions for peace
>>>  To: peace at lists.chambana.net, "Peace-discuss List" 
>>> <Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net> Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010, 9:25 PM
>>> 
>>> 
>>> There have been a few proposals to repurpose 
>>> peace-action at lists.chambana.net
>>> 
>>> So, HERE IS AN INVITATION!!!: Join peace-action list 
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-action
>>> 
>>> The proposed uses: * Focused on discussing actions that AWARE and related
>>>  people might take, and information that might lead to action. the 
>>> purpose of the list would be to * propose potential actions to promote 
>>> peace * publicize potential actions to promote peace * discuss potential 
>>> actions to promote peace.
>>> 
>>> No forwarding of articles and no debates about policy - people have 
>>> peace-discuss for that... 
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss ( 
>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net )
>>> 
>>> The idea of this is that it would give people a way to stay tuned in 
>>> without being subjected to the high traffic of peace-discuss...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> A place to brainstorm actions before they are finalized.
>>> 
>>> Once plans and events are finalized, people have the peace list for that:
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace ( 
>>> peace at lists.chambana.net )
>>> 
>>> The proposals came mostly from Stuart Levy and Robert Naiman, but based
>>> on several discussions at AWARE Films events.
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>> _______________________________________________ Peace mailing list 
>> Peace at lists.chambana.net http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace
> ________________________________________
> 
> Jean Mendoza, PhD Associate Editor Early Childhood Research and Practice 
> University of Illinois jamendoz at illinois.edu (217)333-1386 
> ________________________________________

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