Comments on: Optimism, anyone?

By: al loomis

al loomis — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 04:03:54 +0000

ah! optimism- i dated her when we both were much younger. good looking dolly, and cheerful, oh my! but not reliable.

still, hanging out with her got me through the mutually assured destruction days, and well into the war on drugs. we parted when i found myself noticing cracks in her makeup- all that defending of democracy in the caribbean was having an effect.

after we parted, i came to realize that being with opty, as i called her, was just a drug, and i was glad to be a clear-eyed responsible adult. the problem with that is, you can see real problems but can’t fix them. after i while, i wished i could hang out with optimism again, eyes wide closed.

now i recommend staying drunk or drugged. it’s better than pretending to be a member of a democratic community which in fact is nothing but a baboon troop- and that’s just the political groupies. the real masters are better characterized as hyenas.

By: Andrew E

Andrew E — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 22:48:36 +0000

2006 was a tough year, and merely by assuming that 2007 won’t be so gruelling is grounds for optimism.

But actually I suppose sarcasm and optimism don’t mix (or do they?)

Sarcasm is the scaly crust around the delicate flesh of optimism. They may not mix but they are co-dependent.

By: Graham Bell

Graham Bell — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:30:35 +0000

Everyone:
Now that the SBS ads folly has made me reduce my television watching to an absolute minimum, 2007 for me will be a long-overdue return to the delights of reading interesting books for my own pleasure and and to painting …. for me anyway, 2007 looks like being a good year.

By: Darryl Rosin

Darryl Rosin — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:44:19 +0000

I lost the luxury of pessimism after the birth of my children.

By: Sacha

Sacha — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:36:31 +0000

I’m very optimistic about 2007 – I just feel the opportunities will come along and I’ll grab them!

Why be pessimistic about politics?

By: Graham Bell

Graham Bell — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:52:02 +0000

ChristineKeeler:
Viva les citoyens de Nantes! (or something like that). Now Australians are a pretty inventive lot ….. so let’s set an example to the world by bypassing 2007 altogether and going straight to 2008; that should give us roughly 51 weeks of “Now” to enjoy in our usual inimitable manner.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:48:28 +0000

I’ll mention that to him next time I meet with him, the amazing kim

By: the amazing kim

the amazing kim — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:35:34 +0000

I’m happy to note that The Edge has come up with sixteen pages of reasons from optimism

Well, I guess what with all the attention Bono’s been getting, he felt that he had to do something. And I suppose he had a lot of spare time, seeming as the band’s been recording the same song for about 10 years now.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 06:02:12 +0000

I’m optimistic that I will get a reasonable TER by the end of this year.

By: Mr Denmore

Mr Denmore — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:46:50 +0000

I think there are reasons to be optimistic about how the political winds are blowing. Morgan Stanley’s strategist Stephen Roach, in his latest web column, points to a leftward shift in politics:

There can be no mistaking the important shift that has recently occurred in the political alignment of the industrial world — with the majority shifting from the pro-capital right to the pro-labor left. Not only is that the case in the United States, but such a tendency is also evident in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and possibly even Australia.
The stunning results of the recent mid-term elections in the US could well be the canary in this coalmine. I am not heralding the demise of globalization. What I suspect is that a partial backtracking is probably now at hand, as a leftward tilt of the body politic in the industrial world voices a strong protest over the extraordinary disparity that has opened up between the returns to capital and the rewards of labor.”