I can’t remember the show, but I remember a conversation I once witnessed on television between a Russian woman and an American man. The Russian woman was explaining that the difference between Americans and the rest of the world is that Americans expect things to go well and are distraught when they don’t while nearly everyone else expects things to go poorly and are pleased when they in fact go well. At first glance I probably thought that this statement, although in my experience true, was pretty simplistic logic. But for some reason the quote stuck somewhere in the back of my head and kept popping up during this recent gloom and doom.
When I began to really think about this statement, I started to feel like this difference in outlook plays a fundamental role in the world. I mean this is effectively the foundation of how any individual behaves in society. It is essentially the old glass half full half empty question. As human beings, all of our actions are products of what the expected outcome is. We don’t jump out of moving cars because we expect to be hurt. We routinely fall in love expecting to not get hurt. We cheat, lie, or steal solely based on what expectations we have of being caught – a person who cannot be caught far more likely to cheat than one who knows they will.
If we can all agree that this is basic human behavior and that it transcends national and ethnic lines, than surely it is the difference of expectations that we all have that determine the difference in our actions. And if the aforementioned character is correct, where had American’s hope or optimism gotten us today? Where would we be if we expected bad things like this recent financial crisis to happen. We put money in our banks expecting it to be protected. We invested in companies we knew would always be there. What if we had been like citizens of other countries and hid our cash in the walls? Or expected the housing bubble to burst and corrected it on our own?
In no way am I trying to imply that one outlook is better than another, I am just intrigued by the difference and by the fact that something as seemingly simple as general optimism can have such a profound effect on something as complex as financial structures. Where does this optimism come from? Is it a product of our legendary and historical growth from a newborn country to the world’s superpower in 150 short years? Or is it this recent success that has tricked us into thinking the cards will always fall in our favor? Success can often be a dangerous poison.
Lastly, will the recent events of the world – the financial crisis, war, environmental damages, terrorist attacks – change our collective perspective? Will it take us from a optimistic nation to a pragmatic one? Is the pre-emptive war in Iraq a sign that this shift was already under way? I am interested to know what people think? Has our optimism made our country great or has it been our eventual downfall? Has expecting the best made us soft and vulnerable and would expecting the worst make us aggressive and dangerous?
The persona of America is an aggregate of the various perspectives, viewpoints, beliefs, and actions of its’ citizens and I think it is both scary and refreshing to be reminded of the power of thought and belief. Dark days surely lie ahead, and a whole generation of Americans will now begin to grow old in a world where America’s foundation has been weakened. As things begin to change, and world events begin to unfold, I am curious to watch the development of our nation’s expectations. And as a matter of coincidence, I find it interesting that at least one presidential candidate continues to run on hope. It will be interesting to see how voters respond to that promise.
