Oprah lives by it. Millions are reading it. The latest self-help sensation claims we can change our lives by thinking. But this ‘new thought’ may just be new marketing.
Reading some of the excerpts in the Newsweek article, you’d almost think it was a spoof book if not for the millions of copies sold and the public support of celebs like Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and Nicole Kidman. Are people really so desperately needy and pathetically gullible? The mind reels …
You’d think the last thing Americans need is more excuses for self-absorption and acquisitiveness. But our inexhaustible appetite for “affirmation” and “inspiration” and “motivation” has finally outstripped the combined efforts of Wayne Dyer, Anthony Robbins, Dr. Phil and Mitch Albom. We have actually begun importing self-help—and from Australia, of all places, that citadel of tough-minded individualism…
casa azahar 
We appear to have found a way to export crap, without going to all the effort of puting it in sacks labelled ‘fertiliser’.
LikeLike
The Newsweek article is very good at debunking the ridiculous claims made by Ms Byrne, as does the Secrets of ‘The Secret’ news report, though admittedly it’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel.
Ivan, you should feel proud that the book and its author weren’t successful in Australia and so she had to move to the land of opportunists to earn her undeserved millions.
LikeLike
The crazy thing is, you’re so right about Americans and the endless quest for more.
I was listening to a report on the economy which pointed out that 25% of the wealth in the United States is held by just 1% of the population! If Americans were better at math, there’d be blood in the streets……. (yikes)
LikeLike
Well, if all I have to do to lose weight is stop looking at fat people then I’ll just stay away from mirrors and start eyeballing Nog all day long.
Gosh, why didn’t I think of that before???
LikeLike
I’ve been gawping at trim, well-built men for some time now. It doesn’t work. *sigh*
LikeLike
Pingback: fat is dead « casa az