DaumenrunterI think of positive thinking as an ideology that says we have to work on ourselves to be positive, optimistic and upbeat, and that that will make us healthier. Where it begins to get a little wacky is in saying that you can actually have anything you want by concentrating on it enough, because positive people attract positive things to themselves. I was seeing it applied to people who were really having serious problems, such as cancer or having lost a job, and they were being told it’s all in your mind – whatever happens to you comes from your attitude and thoughts. I think it’s kind of cruel to tell people who are suffering, and did not in any way bring it on themselves, that you just have to change your attitude and you’ll be OK. [...] Negative people are culled out. In the workplace, for example, they may be fired just for raising too many questions or being too critical. So yes, sometimes it’s irritating to be around somebody who doesn’t say every idea you have is brilliant, who says instead, I have these doubts. But I want to be with the person who has the doubts.

Barbara Ehrenreich, Autorin von: Bright-Sided:
How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America