Here's how we got here and why nothing ever changes:

[Pale Blue Dot]

Can’t you guys ease up on the bad news? (From MSNBC)

Our story last week on the the cloudy outlook for housing prices drew heavy reader response with a theme that has become a common thread lately. "If you guys just stop reporting bad news," the theory goes, "wouldn’t that help the economy and housing market get back on its feet?"

I believe that there has been enough hype about the housing crisis. I humbly request that you and your colleagues please stop fueling panic and chase a different story. ... Our economy is based on people spending money, and they are not going to do it if the media keeps hyping the economic downturn.
— T.J. E. San Diego

Has the media ever thought about not just reporting about the doom and gloom of the average house market that does nothing but scares the average Joe and his wife from buying or selling? … If the media would report for just ONE WEEK how good and strong the market is bouncing back, I'll bet the market would see a jump in the right direction.
— Eric M., Address withheld

If you really want things to get better, shouldn't you quit writing stories that feed on the paranoia that is helping create this downward spiral? … You know sometimes all we have is a hope for a better tomorrow because our reality today is not so good. I hope you choose to foster hope, not fear, in the future.
— Joe M., Address withheld

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25853522/

This is getting so goddamn frustrating. THIS is why we (as a nation) are not out in the street protesting the loss of our civil liberties. THIS is why we don't impeach this mass-murdering criminal of a president. THIS is why we are still in Iraq. THIS is why we accrue massive personal and national debt. And THIS is why the economy is about to go into the toilet for a long time.

Americans these days don't want to confront problems. They would rather go on with their lives, fingers in their ears, hoping it will all magically go away. In the meantime there are people like me who know how bad everything is, can't sleep because of it, and when we try to explain the problems to others we get responses like the above (or, as I actually got a couple of times last week, "You must WANT the economy to fail!")

I love the ideals of this country, but sometimes I hate it here.

I'm going to get out of the house and go to a movie. For this afternoon, anyway, I'm going to try to live like most of the rest of the country: with my head in the sand, hoping the problems will just go away.

They won't.

[antigop]

1. fwiw, I know EXACTLY how you feel. n/t

[ixion]

2. and yet somehow progressives are the ones labeled as "pollyannas" or

"idealists" and yet here you have a prime example of people wanting to ignore reality and just pretend that everything is hunky dory.

It's a really screwed up place we live in. :(

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. There's plenty of people who want to ignore reality right here. nt

[KG]

4. americans love their myths and fairy tales.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. One reason why we're in decline is that the national mood is that of ostrich

The emphasis is on trying to maintain the status quo. How can everything stay the same, preferably without denying us any amusements? If you try to say that things have to change, you're a "bleeding heart liberal" or a "tree hugger" or "a conspiracy theorist" or "a far-left radical."

As a Japanese-English translator, I see a totally different mood in writings, whether government white papers or corporate reports, from Japan. The whole emphasis is, "Change is coming. How will we adapt to it?" Believe me, they're thinking hard about energy shortages, global climate change, and the graying of their society and what they're going to do about it.

A typical Japanese corporate report will contain lengthy sections on how much they've reduced their energy usage and emissions and how much of their former waste by-products that have found new uses for. They'll talk about their low-energy products, about how they're finding jobs for older workers.

So instead of whining about how change is going to wreck their way of life, they're saying, "Okay, how can we make the best of this?" They're far from perfect, but at least they're acknowledging the problems.