I think this opinion article actually said something very important and true, but it was so excessively wordy about it (a fault I readily admit I share) that the key point may have been lost for most readers.

The author is arguing--quite rationally-- for us to not despair or lose all hope. He was NOT saying everything is fine and that we are silly drama queens.

It was a warning for us not to forget that our overall outlook can be deeply effected by the way most media operates, by reporting only the most dramatic and alarming news.

I liked the author's analogy of a newborn baby in critical but improving condition, in a neonatal intensive care unit. We deserve to be concerned, absolutely. It is not helpful or appropriate to be giving away all the baby-rearing supplies and planning a funeral. Hopeless dispair serves none of us.

Maybe it is time for us to read Viktor Frankl's psychology classic, "Man's Search For Meaning." The seeds for Frankl's masterpiece were sewn during his years in a nazi concentration camp. --not a very hopeful situation.

The author is dead so how good can his world be?

Of course there are good things...balance keeps me sane...but I am not sticking my head in the sand when others are not experiencing my good fortune...the Pollyanna view of life is just as stressful...you can't go around singing "la la la" as many around you burn to the ground...

Oh good! Maybe I'll buy a new car after all.

Depends , on if you're the one being badly affected .