America's obsession with happiness

[bendk]

Re: S m i l e

The mass entitlement of happiness is ingrained in the American myth.
Early example, Jefferson's phrase, "... the pursuit of happiness."
Outwardly pessimistic or cynical souls seldom fare well in business or political spheres.
The false smile has always been the preferred mask for self enrichment.
The current pouting proto Mussolini is an exception, though promises flow freely from him.
Dale Carnegie published an influential book, "How To Win Friends And Influence People," in 1936, and it was still in bookshops decades later. I remember writing a high school paper on it, equating it with, "if you make people like you, you can take more money from them." I'm sure I got a C for poor attitude.
A later happiness fairy was Norman Vincent Peale ("The Power Of Positive Thinking").
My grandfather went to high school or college with Norm, and used to regal us with black tales of Peale's youth. I was young and didn't pay as much attention as I wish I had.
I suspect most American's, especially those who must deal on a face to face level, are quite literally forced to feign optimism and good cheer.
If not, many are fired, or moved to a desk near the EXIT door.

"My grandfather went to high school or college with Norm, and used to regal us with black tales of Peale's youth."

This could make for a hugely entertaining and enlightening book. It would definitely cast a different spin on Peale's famous work.

(I was sent down this rabbit hole by A Defrocked Academic's very interesting essay: Dark Party of the Soul: The Curious Case of Andrew W.K. and Thomas Ligotti)