On some level, that’s what we’re all looking for.
Just what each of us requires to feel OK enough varies from person to person, but more and more people are finding that the things that were supposed to make it all OK really don’t.
Job security, political stability, market volatility, and on and on — the boxes we’re supposed to check don’t seem to be adding up to the outcomes we expect.
Even if it’s 97 percent irrational or qualitative (the felt reality of ultra-low unemployment doesn’t seem quite as ecstatic as you might expect), the irrational parts of human nature have a powerful influence on human behavior.
And, collectively, the behavior of a society that generally feels too much less than OK may be quite unpleasant. (It may also appear unpredictable or inexplicable to pundits who do feel OK.)
Sooner or later — hopefully sooner — we’re going to have to have a bigger, more inclusive, more creative conversation about what it means to feel OK these days and how we’re going to make that feeling possible for more people.
Colin Steele 