Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

Americans' unhappy birthday: 'Too much wrong'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-06 11:16

Even folks in the Optimist Club are having a tough time toeing an upbeat line these days. Eighteen members of the volunteer organization's Gilbert, Ariz., chapter have gathered, a few days before this nation's 232nd birthday, to focus on the positive: Their book drive for schoolchildren and an Independence Day project to place American flags along the streets of one neighborhood.

In this May 28, 2008 file photo, job seekers wait on line stretching around a block to attend the Monster.com and National Career Fairs job fair in New York, Wednesday May 28 , 2008. The nation's psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable. The Independence Day holiday is typically a time to honor all that we are as a nation, but the feeling is there's less to celebrate on this our 232nd birthday. Happy? It would seem not. [Agencies]

They beam through the Pledge of Allegiance, applaud each other's good news -- a house that recently sold despite Arizona's down market, and one member's valiant battle with cancer. "I didn't die," she says as the others cheer.

But then talk turns to the state of the Union, and the Optimists become decidedly bleak.

They use words such as "terrified," "disgusted" and "scary" to describe what one calls "this mess" we Americans find ourselves in. Then comes the list of problems constituting the mess: a protracted war, $4-a-gallon gas, soaring food prices, uncertainty about jobs, an erratic stock market, a tougher housing market, and so on and so forth.

Special coverage: Subprime Crisis Aftermath Related readings:  Most Americans say Founding Fathers not pleased with state of the nation  US marks Independence Day with fireworks, revelry  62,000 jobs lost in US, off nearly half-million for year  US facing tough Q2, Europe to suffer - Paulson

One member's son is serving his second tour in Iraq. Another speaks of a daughter who's lost her job in the mortgage industry and a son in construction whose salary was slashed. Still another mentions a friend who can barely afford gas.

Joanne Kontak, 60, an elementary school lunch aide inducted just this day as an Optimist, sums things up like this: "There's just entirely too much wrong right now."

Happy birthday, America? This year, we're not so sure.

The nation's psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable. Young or old, Republican or Democrat, economically stable or struggling, Americans are questioning where they are and where they are going. And they wonder who or what might ride to their rescue.

These are more than mere gripes, but rather an expression of fears -- concerns reflected not only in the many recent polls that show consumer confidence plummeting, personal happiness waning and more folks worrying that the country is headed in the wrong direction, but also in conversations happening all across the land.

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 Next Page