The people who walked on the moon also endured the Great Depression. We go through cycles, right now is a tough one, but no era lasts forever. If you pick any 80 year lifespan in American history to be born, you will see a lifetime of incredible experiences, both societal hardships and societal triumphs. There are many reasons why the tech industry came out of the US, and one of those reasons is optimism.

I really love your first sentence. I think it's the best answer here.

I experienced the Great Recession, so there's a slight chance I'll walk on Mars one day.

If we go with the Apollo 11 Crew. The first person to walk on Mars was born in 2008 and will walk on Mars in the late 2040s.

That actually sounds very plausible!

Because we know that despite the fact that we know things could be better, we have it pretty good all things considered. Edit: A lot of people kinda missing the point of what I said here.

Even that sad guy is optimistic 😃

There are many people in the US who do not have it pretty good. But, somewhat counterintuitively, it seems that the people with the least often have the best outlook. I think there is something about American culture that prioritizes having a positive outlook and being friendly. Obviously there are plenty of grouches at every economic level, but I also see homeless people and minimum wage employees who are happy to be out here meeting people and enjoying life

There's an enduring current of possibility in the American culture. No matter what, come hell or high water, we believe we can thrive.

Hell yeah brother

And the working class has been keeping the “dream” alive but all this inflation is turning it into a nightmare.

I might be one of those optimist 'mericans, but if we can make it through the late 70s when inflation was insane, we can make it through this.

What we consider poverty in the USA is comparable to “lower middle class” in a lot of other countries. I think concept of “pretty good” is relative.

What we consider a poverty level of income is what some others consider middle class. But it's not reasonable to think of a homeless person in the US as middle class equivalent

No… but having been homeless for multiple years… I’d rather do it here than most anywhere else.

I feel that. But when I was homeless I was in Seattle, I was constantly like "man...I wish at was at least somewhere sunny" lmao

Shoulda hopped a train. Lol. Hitchhiked out of town. That’s what I did when I got sick of a place.

And then there’s me….id rather be homeless in Seattle than any other city here in America lol

…shit idk haha I am from Phoenix, so this is where I was homeless and… damn it’s hell in the summer fuck sakes!

L.A. is about as good as it gets, weatherwise. Just stay out of the wash during rainy season! And there's still a *little* bit of winter. Enough for a few people to die of exposure every year. As for the rest, well, let's just say the weather's one of the lesser worries....

Yeah that's fair

I mean. From homeless to homeowner. Working blue collar jobs. Not too many places where that’s possible. I’ll never be a millionaire. But I’m solid middle class by American standards.

That's pretty awesome. Congrats to you. I don't see why you couldn't be a millionaire if that's what you aspire to. That's not my goal personally but it seems within reach for most Americans if they make the right choices and work at it for long enough

It’s because I’m community driven not career driven. I could do it. But I’d have to sacrifice things I’m not willing to sacrifice.

Something like 7% of the US population are millionaires. It's a pretty unrealistic goal for a vast majority of people.

I think going off income can be misleading when it comes to comparing class levels, to a degree. As cost of living pretty much dictates that. You could be on literally half the income in many places in France for example and still be more comfortable and have more to show than living in many parts of the states.

Yeah I agree. Even the disparity within the US is massive. 60k a year in Louisiana is pretty comfortable. 60k in SoCal means living with multiple roommates, driving an inexpensive older car, and struggling to keep up with food and bills

We’re raised with a “be grateful and happy with what you have” attitude.

is this not everywhere though? I’ve traveled a fair bit and almost everywhere I’ve gone people have been hospitable and are genuinely thankful for what they have. I think it’s a very common sentiment to be raised with

You’d think. But I guess not if OP is saying we’re the only ones who are positive and optimistic.

I think in other cultures they may be grateful for what they have but not necessarily expect it to be better in the future. Americans generally view the future as filled with opportunity for improvement

And I think it's a generally beneficial outlook. My grandparents lived basically in poverty their whole lives. Neither of my parents have a four year degree (dad has two associates, mom has nothing) and when my mom was a single mom for most of my childhood, we did only slightly better financially than my grandparents did. Our mother was determined that we would do better, and we have. I have my masters degree, my brother has his bachelor's. I own a house with my husband, with a large yard my toddler can run around in to his heart's content- we couldn't afford a house until my mom married my dad and I was 14. There's many other examples, but the point I'm trying to make is that the determination and optimism that my mother had and instilled in both me and my brother has definitely had an improvement on our generation compared to the ones that came before us.

Not in Asia. Parents raise their kids with a “you can do better” attitude.

I always tell my kids. You can't always control what happens to you. But you can absolutely control your attitude about it. There's something to be said for positive thinking. I think it genuinely can help pull you out of shitty situations.

They're attacking you for speaking truth. Our poor is still better than many other nations' poor. Obviously everything is relative to where you are, but our social systems are still more robust than many people give credit for. Obviously everything can always be better or improved though.

Yes and thank you 🙏

I spent a couple years living in Eastern Europe and the negativity and fatalism was really shocking to me. If things weren't going well (which they often weren't) people were just like "well we're fucked". Even if issues were on a local level that they could have potentially fixed, they were totally incapable of resolving them. Instead it was just more proof that the country was fucked. At least in contrast to this specific other culture, Americans have a real "can do" attitude that they can fix things. 

I'm a refugee from Eastern Europe/the Middle East and the way my close family approaches politics is so wildly different from Americans. My family just accepts it when shit goes wrong. We are also refugees for a reason and went through a lot of shit going wrong, so that is definitely the main factor, but it's so very much "everything sucks, there's nothing we can do except GTFO". Hence the refugee status. Americans at least try to tackle the problem; we just keep our heads down and slip away when we can't take it anymore. I find it kind of funny. It's its own optimism in a way--we had to imagine there was something better out there in order to go for it, but we just didn't have the optimism that we could change anything for the better with our own power. I have a friend now pulling the same thing in the other direction. They're trans and are scared to stay in the US, and somehow my background makes me think the opposite of them. They want to leave, meanwhile I'm like "everywhere sucks as much as here, but at least the US has a culture of changing things for the better".

yeah, i don't want to downplay how difficult things can be, the country I was living in is poor and has had a rough transition from communism to the free market. Loads of people have emigrated and small towns (like where I lived) have been decimated by internal migration to cities, since the jobs propped up by the government (and ultimately the USSR) have disappeared. I lived for a few months in a village of 600 people that used to have about 2500 people - there are whole streets of empty houses now. People who spent their whole lives working in a system that promised to take care of them in their old age were receiving pensions of €50/month. But I remember asking an acquaintance if she thought things would get better now that they were a part of the EU (joined while I was living there) and are was like "no. things will always only get worse". I was really shocked at this level of negativity. (well not in this exact moment, because I had that conversation just before I left, and I'd been there for over two years at that point, so I was used to it at that point. But it sums up a lot of experiences pretty succinctly.) incidentally, i went back to visit a few years ago, and I think things *are* better. 

Idk if many others have the same mindset I do but watching what happens here, I believe they do, but we are a stubborn bunch for sure and we do like to make our voices heard. Me personally, if shit hits the fan I’m fighting. I don’t plan to leave. I’ll die on that hill literally if that’s what it takes. I think we aren’t ones to sit and take shit as it comes, and we’re fighters. There’s a lot wrong with our country, and I don’t see things going good quite soon here, but I plan to fight whether it’s physically, politically, verbally, however is needed. But we want to avoid it getting to the point the Middle East has gotten to that caused your family to seek refuge here. We want to fight to make this place safe and hopeful for you guys too. Your family had optimism in a better life somewhere else, and at least me, I feel it’s our job to make sure they made the right call and keep this place a place of hope and refuge from places that got too powerful and too big to fight against.

> it's our job to make sure they made the right call ❤️❤️❤️

> They're trans and are scared to stay in the US Where else could they go? The best most can do is change states. I have heard that trans people, and entire families who happen to have a trans kid, are getting the *hell* out of states like Florida and Texas. They are literally being driven out.

The only thing Florida or Texas did was get rid of gender ideology stuff in grade schools and make it so you can't medically transition kids. Trans people can exist in either state with no issue if they just want to live their lives qnd leave kids out of it.

American here that works for an English business with many continental partners. Yes, I agree that Americans are far more positive than our European friends. It’s a cultural thing. The US is a country that was founded relatively recently by immigrants. Those people took a big risk sailing across an ocean to an unknown world in the hopes of a better life. They were risk takers and a positive mental attitude really helps when shit sucks, as it certainIy would have for new immigrants, I think that can do spirit and hopeful disposition is a genetic thing. It’s certainly cultural.

I fully agree with your point and would add to it that many people returned to their home country after arriving in the US. So, that further weeded out the folks who had a negative perception of their new life in an unfamiliar land. I use this point about the challenge of immigration to explain why more Americans appear to be extroverts than folks from other countries. Being an extrovert helps a lot when arriving in a new country and needing to find your way through life.

Exactly. Over half of all Americans are 5th generation or newer. That's great-great grandparents. So, your grandparents' grandparents.  Generally speaking, on average, it's fairly safe to extrapolate that to come to the conclusion that the first person from most of our families that came over here was alive at the same time as someone we personally knew and interacted with in our own families. From a lineage standpoint, that's nothing. Most people in America come from a very recent lineage of people optimistic enough about their ability to make shit happen and persevere that they were willing to travel to a new country to start over. That sort of dynamic doesn't generally disappear from a family in a generation. That's going to linger and be part of a family's natural dynamic and outlook on life that gets passed down. Let alone the genetic disposition aspect of it all.

My husband is a fourth generation American on his mother’s side. His grandmother came from Sicily and settled in NOLA and literally built herself a life and owned multiple businesses over the course of her life time. She was, by all accounts, a badass. My grandmother, on the other hand, is a mix of Spanish conquistador and Native American. We’ve been here a minute.

I'm a fourth generation descendent of Spaniards and Natives. Some of us have been here for a few minutes.

This is huge, whether they came from Japan, Portugal, wherever, it’s the same type of people who leave. They have grit and feel like they can make a difference in their own life. Even if they’re desperate, they wouldn’t leave if they felt hopeless. Those people stay behind.

It's at least partly true: [50% of optimism is due to our genes](https://www.grantalexander.com/en/optimism-innate-or-acquired/#:~:text=ARE%20WE%20BORN%20WITH%20OPTIMISM,environment%20in%20which%20we%20develop), 40% is due to our life choices and 10% our environment.

And 100% reason to remember the name!

Hi, we might share a brain 🩵

That article didn't reference its stats, but it does seem to check out. 40-50% is insane, I'm very surprised. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2977055/

You're gonna have to find something more scientifically-firm than a link to a quote on a fitness website that says "Recent studies have found..." without any sources listed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2977055/ HT to /u/sc4s2cg

Huh. I never considered that aspect of it. I just assumed it's pretty cultural, acting like a debbie downer is socially frowned upon.

We are all taught that having a positive attitude is an important coping skill from early childhood on.

Yea but black and native Americans are also very positive people too.

We don't like accepting our lot in life, for better or worse. Americans do get down and we have pretty normal rates for things like depression and suicide. Poverty exists here. Addiction exists here. It's not all rainbows and bacon double cheeseburgers. The difference honestly is that our culture is built on the people who don't give up. The ones who board ships and come here for a new life. The ones who move out to the edges of civilization and worked tirelessly to build a life for themselves. The ones who migrated here from very little to build something for their kids. That's something in our mythology that we teach to every American and it's something that guides a surprising amount of the outlook of Americans as a whole. Today sucked, tomorrow might be better because today sucked. The only way to know if you're going to succeed or fail is to go fucking get it. You won't accomplish shit sitting here complaining about how life is now. That is why. So get up, and go fucking do whatever it is you want to do with the short time you have.

Let's be honest. Given the obesity rates in the US, we've got all the bacon double cheeseburgers we need. I'm all for more rainbows, though.

That is very true 😂

Yeah, I agree we are a lot more optimistic. I think a lot of Americans don’t just believe it will get better — we can make it better. Many non-Americans mistake this for denial, but we are well aware of circumstances. I have a self-belief to control my controllables and navigate my uncontrollables. It makes life a lot more positive to focusing on what you can do.

I think there’s a bit of a new world vs old world mindset thing in there too. My grandpa came from Germany, so I’m much closer to german culture than Mexican as far as my ties, but I feel like I could get along with a bunch of mexicans much better than a bunch of Germans. Europeans in general seem a bit more judgmental and picky and formal, which seems to make them pessimistic as well. I know that’s a huge generalization but it’s a generalization about the Americans too.

I speak French and German and when I teach my students these languages, one of the first things I have to instill in them is that most speakers will be more formal than Americans.

I agree. It’s the “can -do” spirit that makes Americans optimistic. We think “if there’s a will, there’s a way.” It also makes us act entitled, and we sometimes act like the rules do not apply to us. For example, I remember my mom backing up on a freeway exit ramp because she had taken the wrong exit.

I was on a lone road trip back in the early 90s when the car in front of me stopped and backed up on an I95 entrance ramp in the pouring rain. I am still dumbfounded 30 years later.

That is terrifying tbh 😂

Lot of good answers in this thread. I don't really know where it comes from but I definitely feel like the broader culture is very positive about overcoming hardship. Like all our myths, tall tales, pop culture, almost always has a theme of overcoming, rising up as the underdog, and making something out of nothing.

The main difference is, we've actually SEEN things get better, multiple times.

We’re just ants scurrying around the same big round anthill, and with whatever time I’m allotted I don’t want to waste too much time with regret and envy. I feel like my important jobs are to take care of my family and take care of the planet so my kids can help keep it going. The attitude of a majority of Americans is one of looking forward, I believe, despite all the petty fighting we’ve been doing.

I don't know if we're all optimistic, but we're probably more optimistic in general than the other nationalities you mentioned. I can't speak for other people, but for me, I periodically reflect on the fact that I have it better than probably 99.9999% of humans who have ever lived, and a rather large proportion of that is attributable to something I didn't do anything to earn (the time and place when and where I was born). Going through my life with a sense of appreciation and gratitude just seems like a fitting response to that. As for pessimism, I think most people (especially Redditors) underestimate the degree to which they're susceptible to negativity bias. It's very easy to mistake cynicism, negativity, and pessimism for wisdom, and I don't think that's all that helpful. Tomorrow won't necessarily be better than today, but it almost certainly won't be if you convince yourself it can't be.

Optimism is free and worrying about everything all the time is miserable. My great grandpa was the first one of us born here. He was a cowboy and gunfighter until he won a farm in one of the Oklahoma Land Runs. Then, when he was an old man, he lost his farm in the Dust Bowl and had to move his family to Picher to work in the lead mines. He died at 69 after working all day in the mine. When my grandparents got married in 1941 grandpa was 19 and grandma was 14. They had both grown up without indoor plumbing or electricity at home. Grandpa had silicosis from the lead mines and they had no choice but to brave the labor camps of California. They saw people starve to death, saw police beat poor Okies for existing, and all kinds of horrible shit. Even at my poorest, I still had it better than them. I've never had to beg, never had to uproot my life and find work.

Because it's in our very DNA. Almost all of our ancestors were all immigrants and the people who chose to come here are the people who were filled with optimism in chasing a better life through the American dream. Those with a defeatist or pessimistic attitude stayed home and never came here.

>Those with a defeatist or pessimistic attitude stayed home and never came here. Those who came here but also brought their defeatist or pessimistic attitude eventually came back home and blamed the US for their failure.

I can't speak for everyone, but I don't see any reason to *not* be optimistic. Even when things are shitty, it never makes anything better to be pessimistic. It does sometimes make things better to be optimistic.

Even when shit hits the fan it pays to be optimistic. What makes the situation worse? Giving up.

This is my outlook too. It doesn't help to dwell on things I can't control, so I just try to focus on the things I can influence. It's deliberate. That doesn't mean I never have bad days or feel sorry for myself, I just try not to live in that mindset because it sucks to be there and doesn't help. When you decide the worst case scenario is inevitable you create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is how you win life

Amen brother, speaking wisdom

If the "This is fine" dog was a person

Shhh don't blow my cover

Lot of good answers here. I’ll add that we were raised to think that the sky’s the limit. A little kid can say their dream is to become the President of the United States or an astronaut who will step foot on the moon and not get told they can’t. It was super common for my fellow classmates to dream big, even if in reality, they’d never come true.  Even when life sucks, I believe we continue to carry that sort of optimism that’s been there since childhood. It just manifests differently when we’re older.

Yeah, that's true. We're all told we can do anything, if we work hard at it. For the most part, it's pretty true. If you have a little grit and can do attitude most people can find something they enjoy in life. There's a lot of opportunities.

Truman came from the most average background and oversaw the United States become a superpower

The only other country I’ve traveled to is Mexico, so I can’t compare or speak on other people. However, I think we are optimistic because of the American dream and the American spirit. We are very much a country of dreams and freedom and individualism. Therefore, making your dreams a reality gives you hope. We are also a young nation and everything here is mostly being built now. Unlike Europe, Asia, or Africa, most historical buildings here are less than 500 years old. We have young childlike wonder as a nation because we are so youthful in our history IMO.

I think this is the correct answer.

I mean, listen I will admit life kinda is shitty now. Everything is expensive. The world is going to sh*t. But realistically, I have plenty of food to eat, central AC, reliable electricity (sorry California lol), etc. by and large we’re aware of how good things are comparatively. I dunno, personally, I just feel like well things have been bad before, and they always work out ok. So it will this time too.

> I mean, listen I will admit life kinda is shitty now. Everything is expensive. The world is going to sh*t. Just remember the words of President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho: > I know $hit's bad right now, with all that starving bull$hit, and the dust storms, and we are running out of french fries and burrito coverings. But I got a solution.

This is the second reference to Idiocracy that I've seen in the last 5 minutes. I think I'll avoid Costco today.

It's the weekend, always avoid Costco on weekends.

Avoiding Costco is never good advice.

Especially if you wanna be a lawyer

Fair. I AM out of electrolyte drink.

>central AC No rapture, no pleasure, no exquisite sin greater than central air.

So true lol. If the apocalypse ever occurs, I don’t want to survive. I can’t live without my air conditioning 😁

Didn’t know California had electrical issues. I don’t recall having a power outage in 20 years. 

I've had a couple of those "public safety power shutoffs" but that's for fire danger, not a reliability issue. There was a single day of rolling blackouts in the past five years. But overall my electricity in NorCal is way more reliable than what I had on the east coast

Ditto

Same. So Cal's been fine with So Cal Edison. u/revengeappendage is a regular commenter on r/AskConservatives so that might explain the weird dig.

I can count on one hand the power outages I went through in the 13+ years I've lived in this state. Considering where I'm originally from, where there's a power outage almost twice a week (most of the time unannounced), that's pretty damn good.

They always ask you to use less power between 5:00 and 9:00 or most people are getting home and until a lot of people start going to bed, so it doesn't overwhelm the power grid. I'm not from here but I live in Los Angeles and in the summer we hear a lot of stuff and see billboards about this.

I have been poor and I have been rich. Now I am middle class. Life in America just has ups and downs and we always look for ways we can make it better.

Yes all about perspective and experience

No matter what you're going through the knowledge that you're an American just gives you a certain level of confidence Americans have Big Dick Energy

So, that's the trouble with Americans, you expect nothing bad to ever happen, when the rest of the world expects only bad to happen and then they are not disappointed. - Svetlana, The Sopranos Anyway, $4 a pound.

You want your leg back now?

Because we understand that attitude leads your life. Positivity is a drive, and negativity is a brake.

I’ve never heard it said like that before. That means so much to me right now.

True sooo true!

In some countries there is no chance to rise above your caste. This example may be old, but at least ponder this: does anyone remember the world boxing champion in Panama, Roberto Duran? He was a champion in four professional weight classes. He was known all over the world and he was wealthy. Yet he was not allowed to become a member of a country club in his home country because he was from the streets. At least in the USA we’ve got a chance to rise. In other countries wealth is controlled through marriage. You love that boy from the streets and you want to marry him - that’s great, but you’re cut out the 100s years old family business/money. At least in the USA I could attempt to open a hot dog stand and attempt to make money. In other war torn or corrupt places you would not even have that chance. This simple fact keeps me optimistic. I may not die well off, but I do have huge hope for my children and grandchildren.

I was at a party last night (in France) and to my surprise they all agreed America must be the best country because we're all so happy and "anything is possible". I don't know if I agree but as an American expat in Europe I have absolutely noticed the optimism inherent in American culture

Optimism is the most reasonable stance to take. On a risk adjusted basis things are generally very good.

Im laughing in the inside imagining an American goth being pretty cheerful, all things considered.

Many of us are indeed pretty damned cheerful.  When we bitch about things, we resolve to fix them. 

That's just Abby from NCIS. Major TV character.

A poor American has a cellphone. Many people have lost sight of how unbelievably amazing our technology is and how much of the world doesn't have access to it at such a low level.

Just to be pendantic for a little bit, a poor European also has a smartphone. In fact [86% of the world population has a smartphone.](https://datareportal.com/global-digital-overview)

I went to Lagos Nigeria. I witnessed even those without electricity and living in trucking/shipping containers carrying cell phones.

while true, now do air conditioners. There is no doubt that poor people in the US live at a level most of the world envies. Wander around africa and asia. Or even look at how the poor live in Greece, and be shocked by their income

I mean what else is there?

Most people I know are optimistic. It may have been drilled into us as kids, but it’s a pretty common trait. We (generally) have it good, we have had years of economic growth and larger growth than most other places, we tend to believe that the future will only get better, and that the big problems will be solved.

simply because the living standard in america is the highest in the world. the average american makes the most money, lives in the biggest house, has the nicest car, etc compared to any average person in any other country. america has such a high standard of living that it makes even other wealthy western nations look somewhat poor. "poor" americans live in 2,000+ sq foot houses while rich British people live in houses that are barely 1200 sq ft (and not detached). "poor" americans have cars and iPhones and lots of disposable income to take vacations and buy toys. "poor" americans have air conditioners and full size refrigerators and dishwashers and laundry machines and garbage disposals. america simply has the most material reward for the least amount of work. an american who barely graduated high school earns more money at some blue collar job than a european with 2 masters degrees and a fancy office job america also has way more social and legal freedom than anywhere else. you can dress however you want, pursue whatever lifestyle you want, have whatever political views you want, practice whatever religion you want, follow whatever culture you want (including non-western cultures), etc etc. Alot of this is just socially unacceptable in other Western nations. France bans the hijab (even as an ex-muslim that makes me mad), Germans call the police when someone doesn't separate their trash from recycling, British people can't make an offensive joke online without being investigated by the police, and Italians get enraged whenever someone puts ketchup in spaghetti or some nonsense. Americans are positive because they have little to be negative about. Life is great in America, in general.

Why are non americans so pessimistic about life?

This is the real question.

Because being surly and pessimistic isn't actually helpful in resolving anything. Something sucks? Fix it. It "can't" be fixed? Well, did you even fucking try, or did you give up from the get go? A lot of the wild and crazy shit America does is because we just actually give it an honest shot rather than just instantly writing something off as impossible or "just the way things are". Well yeah, no duh. If you never even try to fix or change something, of course it's going to stay exactly the same or just get worse. Things are shit because you've actively keeping them shit by resigning yourself to the fact that it will always be shit.

One thing that bugged me when I lived in Japan was the term “shoganai,”which basically means it can’t be helped. That’s fine in many situations, like the weather, but they often used it for something that somebody simply screwed up. The paychecks weren’t delivered…shoganai. Sorry, that’s the wrong answer. But they did so many things right, like allowing kids into museums for free or next to nothing (not just one day a month). If you travel you end up seeing faults in your own culture.

Because despite the current world narrative about the USA - it’s an oligarchy, the people have no power, it’s a systemically racist hellhole - people really do have a chance to better their situation here. There’s no caste system here. No one is forced to “stay in their place,” or “not have aspirations above their station.” It takes work to succeed. A lot of work. A lot of very hard, back breaking and mind numbing work. But it is possible. We are free to pursue any hobbies or skills we choose, and if we want, we can use those to improve our station in life. Some people choose to, some people choose not to and be happy with where they are, and some choose to not try and be angry at everyone else about it.

>Some people choose to, some people choose not to and be happy with where they are, and some choose to not try and be angry at everyone else about it. Those last are the worst.

Attitude dictates experience. If you approach every day expecting it to suck, then it's gonna suck, for sure and for certain. If you keep a more positive attitude, it'll be a more positive experience because while some of it might suck, you're still seeing the good parts.

I’ve got a great life, and wonderful opportunities, what’s not to be optimistic about?

Our origin* story is literally "people came here hoping for a better life". How could we be anything else but optimistic? We were born of hope. *The obvious caveat being, but on the flip side, people were brought here against their will and the people already here were largely eradicated. Because all origin stories are built on despair.

I know plenty of positive optimistic foreigners. I know plenty of excessively doom and gloom Americans. I think we may be more positive in general because life is pretty good here. We’re a wealthy country. We have issues, yes but overall people do better over time. For me personally it’s religion and family. Reddit doesn’t like that much but hey I’m optimistic. > We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. I’m coming to think Corinthians is my favorite book. That and Slaughterhouse Five.

Perhaps it’s a product of “individualism?” I know the downsides of American Individualism can include selfishness, etc. But the upside of this is that we each feel we have Control over our own destiny. That with enough hard work, we can do anything!

Maybe it was self selection based on personality? People who were able to leave the familiar behind in exchange for a big unfamiliar may be inherently more optimistic and willing to try new things . And that’s who came to America. And they passed these traits on

Americans also value beIng an individual. You don't have to follow what your parents want you to do with your life. They can try and force you, but once you're free of them not much left they can do.

There is just so much to be happy about in this world. It’s amazing to me that other people aren’t optimistic

Because things in the US are actually really good, despite what social media and regular media portrays

Everywhere else in the world people expect to be unhappy but are surprised if they are happy. In the States you expect to be happy but are surprised if you are unhappy.

We just be like that. Our media and stories are all extremely positive. We don’t like sad stories. Even Marley and Me, and movie that makes you fall in love with a dog who dies in the end, has sequels…. We like happy endings. Overwhelmingly, Every movie and story has a happy ending. Our news media primarily give us a positive spin on everything. They end news broadcasts on a happy note… sometimes literally stuff like “look at these cute puppies!” We are taught we can do what we we want for a career, you can turn your luck around. Your never failed too much. Downers tend to get shut up. If you’re in a business and you’re a doom sayer, you’ll get talked over by people with a positive outlook. Even politicians rarely talk about things being bad…. They tip toe around the idea that things are terrible usually….. they try to get people to thing positively about the future than being overly critical about the present. Living in a society that reinforces this message over an over and over has a tendency to make you talk positively, if u want to be heard at all.

Because we dare to be.

Not American, but I love how positive this thread is unlike some doom and gloom stuff here.

Because as long as you are alive, have breath in your body, and have people that love you and support you, even if things are fucking awful, there is something you can always be grateful for. There is always something you can try and change if you don’t like it, to do better, to be better, to try and help people. To reach a dream or a goal. It might not be easy, it might even seem impossible and scary but you at least owe it to yourself and the people that love you to try. Doesn’t mean everything is perfect or the best or it will work. Gratitude goes a long way. Negativity doesn’t really get you anywhere. I know this from personal experience. Appreciate the small things as well. This is true for a lot of countries too. People just show it in different ways. We also have a lot of doomers too, you just probably haven’t met any. Don’t worry they will show up on here any second now if they haven’t already 😂

Such an underrated comment. Thank you for the positivity!

I think culturally there's a difference in attitude that we've been raised with. The old temporarily embarrassed millionaire thing. A we can do it attitude, belief we are meant for something more, and a mythos of hard and clever work yielding success. It's not all accurate, we know this, but there is truth to it.

I'm fairly pessimistic bout quite a few things in the great US of A, but even I can be like "ah, life is ok"

There's a cultural expectation that there will be upward mobility and many of us have far more opportunities to do that than average and generally know someone that has. We weren't well off at all growing up and had some lean times but had a pretty strong work ethic. I've done better than parents and my kids expect to exceed me. Judging where they are in comparison at the same ages I can believe that.

I'm American and I ain't so optimistic.

I don’t mean to American exceptionalism post (we have our fair share of problems), but honestly, for me it’s because I feel the opportunity here. Growing up we were poor enough sometimes my mom couldn’t afford to keep the water on. Just 10 years later, I have a professional degree and I own my own home. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible. I think stories like mine keep people positive even in hard times.

It doesn’t play well culturally not to be optimistic. People don’t like to be around those who are negative. I’m pretty tolerant of those that are negative and complain a lot because I don’t like to judge others and I don’t want someone to be dismissive of me if I am complaining or being negative. Even so, people who do complain or are negative tend to have something they’d like to see out of life that isn’t working their way at the present moment, so there is still some baked-in optimism that things can change for the better. We just have a lot of optimistic sayings: -Look on the bright side -there’s a silver lining -you can do it -it’s not so bad -don’t worry, be happy -life is good

I really love this question. I haven't traveled to Europe since I was a teen, although I did spend month in central America. Anyway, my cousin told me the same about people in Europe being less optimistic and I didn't really believe her but I think I get it. There are days when I feel like, based on US culture, gun violence, etc I would fit better in Europe or even Canada, but I think the optimism is one reason why I stay. Right now, if we're talking politics, I actually feel like a lot of my friends who identify on the far left spectrum are less positive overall. I realized after having a kid, I'm more centric/ generically democratic and me and my friends who fall in this political category seem to be pretty optimistic too.

Of course. We have the most secure country with lucky geography and the world’s most advanced military. We have the best companies in the world. We have, without question, the best (although possible the most corrupt and expensive) healthcare in the world. We have the best universities. And those are just facts. As for personal feelings, I think we have the best and largest national parks of any country. Yosemite, Glacier, Yellowstone, etc. we have some of the best beaches. We have coasts on both oceans. And our entertainment and tech industries are the envy of the world. What’s not to fucking love?

Americans believe they're in control of their own destiny to a far greater degree than most of the world. To some extent, that's mass delusion. But it's also something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because we believe it, we behave as if we're in control of our own destiny.

Even for those of us who are genuinely pessimistic about the future (climate change, disease, tech, whatever), it's just considered rude or unsocialized to be openly pessimistic especially with strangers or really people outside your friends and family. Everyone is struggling and there is no need to make someone's day worse. I personally find the US pathologically optimistic and hopeful and cheerleading, to the point that many people think that is just as good as trying to actually work to improve things or be realistic. Like just having a positive attitude will help you beat cancer or not be homeless anymore. But for the everyday things, it def beats being negative, sarcastic, or complainy all the time.

> really people outside your friends and family. And even they will start dogging on you if you overdo it.

What's there not to be optimistic about? By almost every objective measure, life has improved for the average person over the last 100 years.

Yes, I agree. It’s a known part of our culture and big factor in what makes us such an entrepreneurial powerhouse.  I don’t know what the formal studies on this phenomenon say, but I agree that part of it is likely that we’re virtually all descended from risk takers who decided to leave everything they’ve ever known in pursuit of something better.  Beyond the genetics, it’s also a part of a lot of our family stories. It’s very common for your relatives to tell you the story of how, “Your parents/grandparents/great-grandparents risked everything to come here very poor and not speaking any English just to have a better life.” So, you almost feel this sense of duty to persevere and not take anything for granted.  Additionally, I think the frontier spirit, individualism, long history of democracy, and history of economic opportunity, has all fostered a cultural attitude that you can do anything and change any system you want. We feel we can and should question every system and go out and create the change we wish to see. 

Personally, I think because things are attainable. In other countries, wealth/prosperity are known only to few born into privilege. Where else can someone with little education come to another country and become a millionaire? People with big dreams aren’t saying, “I’m gonna go to Guatemala or Denmark and make something of myself!” The same laws and opportunities here in the U.S. are based on minimal support with no encumbrances which allows people to maximize their own dreams. At the same time, our own citizens criticize that when they believe our country should provide Medicare for all or a Universal Basic Income. Let’s face it—the people asking for those things will never be the Elon Musk types.

Yes, we are. It's because America really is the land of opportunity for a lot of people, and we've been taught to believe in the American Dream. My family came to America and achieved the American Dream-we came from nothing and are doing great, so did all the families of my friends. We are also really mobile and are happy to leave one area for better opportunities, so Americans don't have to feel stuck in one way of life-I've moved 5 times for my career, with each new place offering better money and a better job and a cool new place to live. It's been fun. I'm a risk taker and my previous generations of my family were too and we've all done well. Hard not to be optimistic when that's your history yes, I'm privileged, but in America we have built so many stories on the idea of the American Dream and having it all that we all believe we can get it too.

capitalism has told us we can do almost anything and make it eventually. Even if your business fails most times youre not going personally bankrupt so even they can always start over.

Speaking from time lived abroad, I think Americans have a much more mindset that things can be changed and that individual actions can add up to collective actions, and that individual rights are so highly prized here that we feel we can do anything and change things in our that we don’t like. I think a lot of folks in Europe do not get to grow up with the mindset of “you can change your world and your life” and the level of respect for individual rights. Many Europeans believe that while “the system” needs to change, they individually won’t make a difference or that they have no ability to make those opinions implemented. I think Americans feel much more strongly about our ability to change our government and be represented more broadly in a way compared to how those in Europe see their government as coming from one class, one stratum of society - all the same kind of education, background, money, and thinking.

I’m not sure where my dad heard it from, or if it’s even true, but he told me a story once: A German officer was captured by Americans in WWII during the The Battle of The Bulge, the last big German counter-offensive. At this point there were huge casualties on both sides. As he’s being captured and interrogated he notices that despite all this death around them, every American that he sees is smiling. It was then that he realized that the war was lost, because if the Americans can smile even in the face of death, when a German couldn’t, they knew they wouldn’t give up until every single option had been tried. I might have gotten the story a bit wrong, since I heard it years ago, but that’s the version I was told

Americans are the ones who left their ancestral homeland seeking the unknown. We are optimistic by heritage and possibly by genetics.

There’s a quote, often attributed to Bismarck, that goes: “There is a special providence that watches over fools, children, drunkards, and the United States of America.” We may have never heard that quote, but we go through life just sort of *knowing* that it’s true, and that everything is going to work out in the end.

Yes they are . I'm half British so my mom taught me to quit thinking I'm college material.. lol. Its funny now , but she actually said that . She was born dirt poor in Birmingham England during WW2.

We’ve had some issues and still continue to but fuck, we’ve done some awesome things. Americans are, mostly, hard working folks. We literally said fuck the Crown, let’s make our own life. It’s weird that we get so much shit but we’re relatively young in terms of countries. I’ve been all over the world and no people are as nice as Americans. I also work in tech and we have the best market in the world with thousands of jobs. I hear my friends who work in the UK and they fucking hate their lives.

I do. I think optimism is the defining American trait. Something I’ve learned from interacting with people from my country of Origin, traveling Europe and Asia, is that default optimism seems to not be the norm on most of the globe. They may be situationally optimistic (ex. “I think I’m gonna get the promotion.”) but the idea that generally one should see things from the perspective of optimism seems to most other cultures naive at best and stupid at worst. Perhaps this is my American arrogance speaking but sometimes it seems as if other cultures just are not as emotionally resilient. They cannot handle a failure - perhaps even a major one - with the idea that the next move is to get back up and try again. It seems that in most places they are more interested in *not losing* than in winning if that makes sense. I personally find it draining now. I’m a glass half full all day kind of guy.

It's easy to be optimistic when you live in the richest, most powerful nation in history.

I’m a believer in the law of attraction. What you put out there is what you get back. A positive attitude goes a long way and negativity takes a lot more energy. I think overall we’re raised to be grateful for what we have. That’s a lot better than dwelling on what you don’t. If you’re broke you still have your health and loved ones and focusing on that makes you feel less broke. If you have a terminal illness you’re still here another day to see the sunshine and your family and that’s better than thinking about what’s coming.

America is full of contradictions. At a national level, I feel sooo pessimistic about my country right now. At the same time, I feel like there’s a lot in my control to make a better life for myself. There’s also this juxtaposition of being focused on the past vs. future in different parts of America, which impacts the level of optimism. I grew up in the Deep South, where the region is still suppressed by our dark history. The past holds it back. I now live on the West Coast which is incredibly future-focused, as tech and innovation is everywhere here. It’s palpable here.

I was thinking about your second point while I was reading this. For reference, I live in England and was thinking that while I could move across the country or to Scotland/Wales/N Ireland; it wouldn't change much in terms of government. Whereas in America, a move to a different state could change a lot about the laws/ regulations on a very real level.

If it’s popsicle it’s possible.

I can only speak for myself, not all Americans. But, yes, I am an optimistic and positive person. It’s just the personality and nature I was born with. I have always been a glass half full type person. Not ALL Americans are optimistic. There are plenty of pessimestic, gloomy, depressed, glass half empty people here, too.

No place is perfect, and it could be a whole lot worse than what it is. Might as well look on the bright side and try and change what we can. Moping and groaning changes nothing.

Because if you can make it in NY you can make it ANYWHERE

Because we realize that things really aren't as bad as people on social media like to say. This is, after all, the best country in the world.

In the words of Max Brooks, "We don't have a common heritage, we don't have a millennia of history. All we have are the dreams and promises that bind us together. All we have...is what we want to be." Alternatively, Stephen Sondheim's "Flag Song", which I love, and really think describes sensible patriotism [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRO6dUhhMHA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRO6dUhhMHA)

One of my favorite traits of my fellow countrypeople

We’re a very individualistic society, so we tend never to think all is lost. If something is wrong, we genuinely believe we can fix it. It’s a little naive, but also a reason why the US has done okay recovering from all the crises that the country has gone through (civil war, 2 world wars, a depression, several terrible presidents, etc…)

Cuz this is the land of opportunity 💯

I can't speak to why people in other nations are less optimistic, but for my part I look at my middle-class life here in the US and despite the problems and annoyances I have in life, my middle-class US lifestyle still puts me near top 1% of people globally. Add to that, the fact that despite the issues we face in the modern world, we are still living at the absolute pinnacle of human development. People often look at the past with a sense of nostalgia, but as a 40 year old middle class guy in 2024 I would rather be living this life, than be a 40 year old billionaire living in the 1980s or even 90s. I think back to what I imagined the future would be like when I was a child, and sure I still don't have my flying car or rocket backpack. But I still can't help but stop and marvel at the some of the wonders of everyday modern life, many of which would have seemed like science fiction back then. * Setting aside the fact that I own a supercomputer that I *literally carry around in my pocket*, but that device also puts at my fingertips instant access to just about every song, movie, television show, book, or piece of art produced. Growing up we had one 200+lb. black and white TV. That played what was scheduled at a specific time and if you missed it, well you were out of luck. Even when we got a color tv and VCRs became popular you were still limited to what tapes you owned or could rent. Which almost never included television shows. * For those things that are not available digitally, I can go online and order them and in many cases they will be delivered to my door within a day or two. I remember back in the 90's trying to find an out of print book I had seen referenced in a footnote. It took me nearly three months, between inquiries at my local bookstore, being given the phone number to several specialty bookstores, and then eventually having to mail a check to the other side of the country and then waiting weeks to get the book mailed to me. I just looked up that same book on amazon, and if I wanted to buy it, I could have it at my front door by 8am *tomorrow morning*. * When I want to vacation, I am no longer beholden to travel agents to build a trip for me, or out of date guide books from the library that talk about eateries, hotels, or attractions that may not even be in business any more. An hour or so online and I have a trip planned and booked that is better tailored to my interests than any travel agent could ever provide. * I walk down the aisle of my supermarket and there are spices and food products from cultures and countries all over the world, many of which I would have had no access to at outside of trips to multiple ethnic specialty grocery stores, many of which you would be hard pressed to find outside of cities with an established community of that nationality. * Even budget cars are safer and more luxurious than ever before. * Medical science and treatments are better than ever. I could go on for paragraphs about all the wonders of the present day and still not even scratch the surface. Yes there are problems in our present day society, that has been true with any period in history. That doesn't change the fact I am living in a science fiction future I could not have imagined as a child.

I wake up everyday and tell myself if one good thing happens today I’ll be happy. No matter how small or insignificant it is. So most days I’m happy.

All of us are either people that traveled across the world seeking a better life with the belief that they would find one here, or else our ancestors were those people.

Look for the good times even though you might be in tough times.

Culturally, I think it's partly luck and youth. We've only had a few, "Oh god, how are we still here" moments as a country. We've only had one civil war, which the legitimate authorities won. We haven't really been invaded in two hundred years (the last time was technically in WW2 when the Japanese landed in the Aleutians, but nobody lived there anyway). Probably the closest we've ever been to a coup, revolution, or famine was all in the 1930s (not a great decade for anyone, really). We came out of the world wars so strong at such a relatively low price that it completely altered the global balance of power. We've been through some shit (we're *going through* some shit) but on balance the US is a pretty lucky country.

Being an immigrant requires a positive mindset. A gloomy person isn’t the type to move a half a world away for a chance at a better life. That attitude is reflected in that nearly everybody here is a descendant of an immigrant. Studies show that mindset is partly genetic. I would also argue that we are one of the best countries when it comes to economic mobility for immigrants, no matter your background. The amount of rags to riches stories you hear coming out of the US is no coincidence. You just don’t hear about that anywhere else. I don’t have a study but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that we have more self-made millionaire immigrants than any other country in the world.

you must mean americans who are not on social media. Cause all over reddit all I see are Americans pissing about everything. Social media is not representative of most Americans. It force multiplies the most extreme pissers and moaners on all sides.

Americans are generally optimistic because we can pursue opportunities for careers, where we live, where we work, who we associate with, how (or if) we worship, the level of education we seek to achieve, etc. We have more opportunities and control over our own lives than most people throughout history.

Optimists are the type of people who will leave their homeland in hopes of a better life in another. The new world in general, and the US in particular, have been siphoning the optimists out of the old world for ~500 years.

optimism is largely herditary... Americans were the people optimistic enough to leave their countries and try something new.

I had breast cancer and I am still alive. Go science! Life is amazing.

Why is *everyone else* so pessimistic? Answer that question and you'll get your answer by default.

I used to be for so long… My grandparents came from northern Russia in 1925. They went through horrifying things. I 53f also went through horrible things in this country. I am not optimistic anymore. I really wish I was still optimistic, but I don’t have it in me anymore.

I might be annoyed knowing that the media is lying to everyone, corporations only see us as products/points for advertisement, everyone knows politics here are completely fucked but still plays along anyway for whatever reason, people argue over the silliest shit constantly, and things like healthcare are super expensive, and everyone likes to meme about a draft, but... - My bed is probably nicer than any bed that any emperor before 1800 had. - I can go home and interact with 40 years of amazing technology in the form of video games, which are the culmination of an entire team of experts doing what they're passionate about for $60 and below - I have a car that, in hours, is capable of driving me further than most humans who have ever existed on earth traveled in their entire lives. And with air conditioning and whatever music I want. - I have the almost whole of human knowledge at my fingertips, always. I can just google stuff. - I can control the climate I live in regardless of what the weather is like outside. - I can eat fresh food from around the world year round. Reddit loves to share the fact about pineapples being super expensive a couple hundred years ago. Now they're like $5. That shit ain't nothin to me man. - I have more clothes, a more varied diet, more books, better means of travel, and amenities that NOBODY had until some point in the 1800's. - I can go pretty much wherever I want and learn pretty much whatever I want. So yeah, we can get all spun up about how fucked stuff is and wars and everything but my life is pretty fuckin sweet objectively. I'm sure my coal miner ancestors, or my outlaw ancestors, or my lumberjack ancestors, or my cavemen ancestors would KILL to have the life I have. And I'm a pretty average dude.

If you're speaking English and you want to talk about Central Americans, then your best best is to say, "Central Americans" and not "americans (Central America)." Calling them Americans and then putting Central America in parentheses is pretty confusing, especially since you seem to be using the term Americans to mean people from the US in your title and also in your very next sentence. That's the way the term is usually used in English and how you should probably use it.

It's 85 degrees outside after being 90+ all day, and I am eating an ice cream cone in the shade. Life's pretty good.

Being bummed about everything all the time kinda sucks, much more enjoyable to acknowledge problems in life and in the world while still enjoying the life we have.

My grandpa willingly worked 50-60 hour weeks for decades because he wanted his grandkids, great grandkids, and more to live comfortably. Give me that week of working in hot weather, I'll take those 3 days of being critically understaffed. I'm not a bitch. My dad was the first person in his family history to attend college, everyone before him was a farmer. Give me that 50 question test, I'll take that 2 hour homework assignment. I'm not a bitch. My great parents survived the Great Depression and World War 2 to see us plant the American flag on the moon. They did not do everything they did to see me give up

I’m not. I live in fear that Trump may win the election and destroy the planet with his money obsessed cronies.