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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (247316)	4/25/2008 8:00:16 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793677

I was commenting that in an earlier era someone who was optimistic was considered a positive thing by most people. Today they are considered a chump. Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature. Despite mixed perceptions of its literary merit, Pollyanna has proved to be both enduringly popular and, in unexpected ways, influential. The novel's success brought the term "pollyanna" (along with the adjective "pollyannaish" and the noun "Pollyannaism") into the language to describe someone who is cheerfully optimistic and who always maintains a generous attitude toward the motives of other people. It also became, by extension—and contrary to the spirit of the book—a derogatory term for a naïve optimist who always expects people to act decently, despite strong evidence to the contrary. en.wikipedia.org

To: DMaA who wrote (247316)	4/25/2008 1:13:41 PM
From: KLP	Respond to of 793677

Thank you DMA. We are all mostly realists. But the “mostly” isn’t usually 100% on everything that comes across our path. We hear a story filled with heroes. Some of them get killed. I am happy to hear about their heroism. But I hate to hear that any of them got killed while in the process of performing heroic acts. But the Pollyanna in me wanted the story to be all of that, but that we didn't lose anyone.....When we lose even one of these very brave men, it cuts to the essence of our souls.... And yes, I prefer to think that many of us are sometimes Pollyannaish…..We are generally cheerfully optimistic and do expect people to act decently, despite some strong evidence that some of them don’t act decently. Really, we see evidence of this optimism every day. Considering the state of politics today, it's a wonder that some of us haven't gone up and slapped some faces. <gggg> The novel's success brought the term "pollyanna" (along with the adjective "pollyannaish" and the noun "Pollyannaism") into the language to describe someone who is cheerfully optimistic and who always maintains a generous attitude toward the motives of other people. It also became, by extension—and contrary to the spirit of the book—a derogatory term for a naïve optimist who always expects people to act decently, despite strong evidence to the contrary.