There is no Reason not to be Optimistic

In an article at The Atlantic, Zachary Karabell discussed the possible reasons why so many people have reacted negatively to the positivity in this writings. Most of these negative comments are just that, comments posted in response to his articles and as Zach states, “the very hint of optimism makes a fair number of people extremely angry.”

When reading articles at The Atlantic, New York Times, Huffington Post, The Chronicle, or Inside Higher Ed. I have to agree; people are negative (I also read articles at Reason.com but forget to look over the comments). With that said I speak in generalities, but when I read comments a good percentage of them have a negative tone, a small percentage are overtly negative, a super-small percentage are aggressively hostile yet still on topic, and a handful are trolls. This means after reading an article and comments, noticeable number of comments will be negative making your overall reading experience possibly negative.  

Is my analysis too simplistic? Probably. But I think this is the core of many negative comments; it is dull and boring to be optimistic, positive, or constructive but oh how fun and easy it is to be negative. I also understand why people slide into negativity, as Zachary Karabell stated “anger is a hot experience that triggers action; agreement, even strong agreement, tends to be a more passive reaction.”

But let me ask a question: what is accomplished by being overtly negative? Focusing on higher education, I understand the ethos of higher education is to ask questions and to offer differing opinions; I get it, I participate, I relish in it. What I do not understand is how negative so many super-smart people are about real issues and topics while not offering any fixes or ways to improve the situation at-hand. Remember, these people have masters degrees and doctorates, often published well crafted articles and books, and have jobs at ‘legit’ schools. There is no lack of critical thinking skills or academic firepower but there seems to be a serious lack of filters or the willingness to collaborate.

Back to the article. When discussing optimism in the US, Zach presents some data that states more Americans feel negative about the future today than anytime since the 1970s and offers this interesting tidbit, “Interestingly, according to these surveys, blacks and Hispanics in the United States are more positive about the future than whites.” I think it is great that African Americans and Hispanics are optimistic about the future; why are Whites not?

Again, focusing on higher education, Americans are completing four-years of college or more in greater numbers today than at anytime in history, the difference is staggering. If you peer into the future these numbers should continue to increase as should the higher education attainment of African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites (maybe a little for Asians). This will change higher education institutions, not in what they teach (there might be a few new degrees) but in how they teach and how they service their students. When you have a more diverse student population you have to meet the needs of the many not just the traditional few. Again, I am optimistic about this because this will allow for the US to not only be more educated and trained, but to be more diverse and stronger as a unified country.

The final quote from Zachary Karabell article is a good comment on how to holistically be optimistic about change, “every society must find some balance between addressing real shortcomings and building on real strengths.” Higher education needs to take this advice to heart. Colleges and universities and the people who populate them need to take a real hard look at their shortcomings and collaboratively work to improve. This does not mean faculty versus administration or administration versus faculty, it means that change truly needs to come about through shared governance while looping in the locals communities for input and help.

Colleges and universities in the US offer real, tangible value to every part of society and I am optimistic about the future. More and more students will be able to get a college degree, or something equivalent, and depending on the individual, get the education they want and need.

Is it going to be easy? No; but there is no reason not to be optimistic.