'The Pessimism Index'

This article is taken from a Times magazine. It is about the overall pessimistic feeling in the United States through a series of questions asked to a number of people in the U.S. The poll confirms that the country is going through one of its longest sustained periods of unhappiness and pessimism ever, According to the article, teenagers hardly remember a time before the 9/11 bombing, the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and constant economic upheaval. Baby boomers, the generation known for continuous reinvention, are filled with worry and doubt about their future and the future of their children. Even though the U.S usually bounces back after a few years of difficulty, such as the Vietnam War, Watergate or recessions, but the forces now aligned against the American people seem much more formidable than those which were surveyed; instead, the poll uncovered the minds of attitudes seen among Europeans during the decade after World War II.

The poll uncovered some unpleasant results among the American citizens. Here are some examples. Firstly, a poll asking whether the past decade has been progress or decline for the U.S as a country, 68% of those asked replied that the U.S was on a decline. Another question asked was how does the past decade compare with other decades in the past 100 years. 47% replied it was one of the worst, 32% said it was about the same while a measly 13% said it was one of the best.

I think that these pessimistic views show that this is the start of the fall of America. If the citizens are always so depressed, how then can they be motivated to work harder and produce better result so America can improve. Furthermore, if even the youth also are so pessimistic about the future of America, it is very scary thinking about how the next U.S president will be like. If he is so afraid and pessimistic, he will very likely bring down America into the slums instead of leading them up the road to improve.