Is it the doorway to a better life or is it a mask?  "Happiness consultants" are a new breed among us, and places like Harvard offer courses in it ... U of Penn has a masters in "applied positive psychology" (oy!) chaired by Martin Seligman, author of Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment.  You know, it really doesn't matter how the cookie crumbles.  If you smile and "have a nice day" your way through the muck, things will work out to your benefit.  Hey!  The New Age tells us so.  Focus on the positive.  Say affirmations.  The more you smile, the better the world will be.  Does it matter that your retirement account is all gone?  Stop being negative.

Take your job, for instance.  The company you work for wants your right attitude.  With this, all things are possible.  You will make customers euphoric.  You yourself will be euphoric.  Become part of the happy collective.  Never say no.  It may be true that raises are 25 cents a year, but if everyone bucks up and puts out their utmost, the company will reward the whole.  "Motivational speaking" became every huckster's stock in trade more than a decade ago, and since then corporate employees have been treated to inspirational addresses by athletes and multi-millionnaires that tell them they can do anything -- if they themselves will just believe it.  Reach for the stars -- there's one in front of you right now.

Says commentator Chris Hedges: "The message that we can have everything we want if we dig deep enough inside ourselves, if we truly believe we are exceptional, is pumped out daily over the airwaves in advertisements, through the plot and story lines of television programs and films, and bolstered by the sickeningly cheerful and upbeat banter of well-groomed television hosts. This is the twisted ideological lens through which we view the world."  And if it doesn't work out, if you can't get that pot of god at the end of the rainbow, the problem is you.  You just haven't tried hard enough.  Try again.

Is it time for us to say, "Enough! I've tried and it isn't working and I don't want to be a millionnaire anymore.  Keep it simple, stupid."  The nicety-positivity trend was created by Tavistock, undoubtedly, to create a kind of public pressure against noticing that our lives, freedoms and wallets are shrinking!  Hey -- there's nothing wrong with you if you're frustrated.  Don't believe the yellow smiley face beaming at you from the TV set.  THINK.  (Please see our "Consciousness" page.)

Read the full Chris Hedges article here.