Sorry, that wasn't the world's best-constructed sentence, was it?

American culture has long had a strong "can do" structure to it, the general feeling that problems are solvable, that the future is bright, and that the U.S. is, to put it simply, a good nation.

Now, spend four years in college, particularly in what we in engineering used to call "the fuzzy subjects." If you come out of that experience without your head hanging, convinced that the future is bleak and that nothing worse has happened to this planet than the United States of America and Western culture, you will be exceptional.

Add to this popular culture* and other influential groups usually permeated with this viewpoint, and it's surprising--and encouraging-- there's as much optimism around as there still is.

Take a test: Go around and tell people you know that you think the U.S. is still one of the best countries in the world. See what you get.

*Take Hollywood, for example. During the 70s movies were so permeated with the futility of existence that when people like Lucas and Spielberg showed up, they were like sparklers in a dark cellar.