Why Is It So Hard to be Hopeful About America?

The twentieth century ought to give today’s Americans a sense of hope for the future.  We won two world wars, expanded civil rights for minorities, women, people with disabilities and many others, defeated Soviet communism, enhanced the personal health and wealth of millions of our citizens through social programs, medical advances and much more.  Yet we seem in a national funk.  Sixty-seven percent say the U.S. is on the wrong track. Sixty percent say our best days are behind us and nearly two-thirds are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working. Anger, frustration and hopelessness seem hallmarks of the first quarter of our new century.

Former President Bill Clinton once remarked that “there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”  Yet we seem overwhelming drawn to what’s wrong.  This is in part due to a natural tendency called the negativity bias.  The cave dweller that heard a strange noise at the cave’s entrance and went unarmed to check it out could become a predator’s lunch.  The one who thought the sound was probably bad news survived.  The lesson – be alert for negative sounds, sights and information - was learned and passed down in the genes.  Negative news excites emotions such as fear and anxiety and the stronger the emotion the longer it is fixed in our memory, further enhancing our receptivity to bad news.  

There was certainly negative news in the last century, but today Americans seem more overwhelmed by it.  This impacts our faith in ourselves and our future. Two drivers of this are the culture in which we live and our technologies. 

Extreme polarization looks for and creates negative news.  Political campaigns thrive on it.  In 1980, there were very few negative political ads.  By the election of 2000, 64 percent were negative.  Pew Research found negative newspaper stories outnumber positive ones by two to one.  Instead of three major networks reporting pretty much the same news, we now have hundreds of cable, talk radio and online news sites that too often slant their reporting to satisfy niche audiences, creating echo chambers immune to unbiased and objective evidence.

It’s not just politics. Interest groups push their agendas by reporting horror stories of damaged people. Access to negative news is also much greater and faster from all over the world through the Internet and social media, and it spreads virally. A 2023 study found that every additional negative word in a headline increases the click-through rate by 2.3% while positive words decrease click-throughs.  Negative news thus keeps people online, which is the goal of many sites and their advertisers. 

Hans Rosling, in his helpful book Factfulness, points out that what he labels the negativity instinct makes us miss or even discount progress.  Even some people who see positive things don’t share them for fear of being seen as out of touch with the “real world” by their friends.  Even when there is gradual improvement over time, he notes, there will be dips in that progress, and it’s the dips not the gains that get reported.  How many reporters, after all, believe they can advance their careers by focusing on good news?

There are ways to limit the impact of the negativity bias:

·       Looking for positive news is not hard with search engines and AI queries such as “what have been the most positive developments in America in the last year?” or “on the subject of __?”  As Rosling says, look for positive events/changes; they won’t come looking for you.

·       Search for other ways an event is reported.  Check out other sources that may see it differently and more positively or at least more balanced.

·       Limit screen time and diversify your information sources to avoid both the depression that often comes with a constant flow of negativity and the tendency to use sources that just confirm your fears.

·       Inoculate yourself against those who say you have rose-colored glasses. Rosling advises saying that while things may be better or improving you can respond to critics by acknowledging you know there is still room for improvement.

Another useful antidote is to remind yourself how things have improved. Between 1975 and 2025, the U.S. infant mortality rate dropped from 16.1 per 1,000 live births to 5.4 (CDC). The violent crime rate fell from 482 per 100,000 people to 360 (FBI). Average automobile fuel economy improved from 13.5 to 29 mpg. Life expectancy increased from 72.6 to 79 years (CDC) and the number of deaths annually on U.S. scheduled airlines went from 144 to 0.

For a very recent example, there is the Phoenix Species Project which will use $200 million to bring animals and plants back from the threat of extinction and even restore them in the wild.

It’s important to keep in mind as well that factual, negative news is not inherently bad. After all, progress often begins with negative stories that spotlight a problem.  The negativity bias becomes dangerous only when it becomes a sink hole that saps hope, creativity and hard work that aims at a brighter future.

Photo Credit: Dewang Gupta - unsplash