Sometimes I wonder whether I’m just getting paranoid as I get older, or whether more of us are turning to magical thinking as the economic climate in this country gets worse. It feels as though the woodwork is packed with crazy people, and they are tumbling out at an alarming rate.  Between the born again Zionist Christians and the people who sincerely believe that all they have to do when they want something is to believe they already have it, I get the feeling that our collective intelligence is buried under a pile of rubble. These people appear to believe that their lives do not have to involve anything as mundane as work or effort in order to achieve their goals. And that all any of us has to do is stand up and tell God we are ready for the riches of the universe, and He will dump them on us.

          I was talking today with a woman who is otherwise sane, but who believes that all the Jews in this country, and the rest of the world as well, should do everything they can to go to Jerusalem. When that happens the rapture will come, Jesus will come back to earth, the righteous will be gathered up into heaven, and all the Jews will become Christians. You cannot tell her that these things will not happen, or that the Jews may have their own version of what will happen in that final battle. The Jewish idea goes much like this: All the goyim are going to kill each other off, and there won’t be anyone left but us Jews, so we’ll have the world to ourselves. Too many people are ready to destroy each other for the sake of a belief that makes no sense.

          Still, I have to forgive her, for in times of stress such as these are, magical thinking does become attractive. When you think only in terms of reality, you begin to understand how awful things could get, and that is truly depressing. Under those circumstances, the mind shuts down in self defense, and superstition and magical thinking fill the void. “My world will be fine as long as I believe that everything is wonderful. All I have to do is to act as though I have everything that I want.” People who thought that way used to be sent to the nuthouse. Now, we are being told that this is right thinking.

          Well, this old-fashioned writer would rather keep both her feet on the ground, even if the view from down here is depressing. With my feet where they belong, I can stand up and begin to take care of business right here and now, and that is what is most important.