The Toxicity of “Positive Thinking”

“Things have a way of working themselves out if we just remain positive.”
— Lou Holtz

Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking influenced a lot of people when it came out, and it had a particular effect on Fred Trump, Sr. and his son, Donald Trump. While I cannot argue that a sunnier disposition is often more effective than a morose one, the idea that you can force the world into conformity just by having a positive attitude is a gross oversimplification of an idea that cannot be applied in black-and-white terms. The world is a complex place, and it is…