Is optimism American? Thoughts from a citizen of the best country on earth

Australians like to think of themselves as easy-going and optimistic. But does that image still work for us in 2011? Victor Perton argues that, with the help of the media, Australia is in danger of becoming a nation of pessimists.

Recently to end an email debate, a Scandinavian friend wrote, "I guess you’ve become American; I just asked an American friend here to go out with me tomorrow, nobody is more optimistic than Americans!"

No doubt, she was right about my optimism. I am an optimist, even possessing a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses with rose-coloured lenses to augment my general world view. Was she right that optimism was an American trait, and my years of living in the states had further (rose) coloured my views?

A few months ago, I would have immediately sent an email rebutting the point and making the point that optimism is even more firmly an Australian trait – "She’ll be right" being Australian shorthand for everything will turn out for the best.

However, my last consultation visit to Australia, and my preparation, sent me some disturbing signals. Has the natural and infectious Australian cheerfulness, which Americans report to me after meeting Australians or visiting Australia, been diminished?

What annoyed me in conferences and meetings was a level of complaint about government policy, living conditions, the health system and the transport system, which did not calibrate with what I know – that is that Australia is the best country on earth. The desire to improve is one thing, but the rhetoric asserted was that folk did not have the health, transport and economic conditions which they deserve.

An Australian business writer, Terry McCrann, wrote last week, "They mightn’t fully appreciate it, but Australians have never had it better."

Another business writer, Peter Hartcher, wrote this week: "Australians live in the richest country on Earth … however you measure it."

Terry and Peter are right. The OECD Better Life Initiative ranks Australia as number 1 for the quality of life of its people. The United Nation Development Index also ranks Australia number 1.

In respect of income, Peter Hartcher notes, "Australia has a higher average income per head of population than Germany, Japan, Singapore or France, surpassing that of its ”mother country”, Britain, by 1½ times. And in 2008, for the first time since World War I, its income per head surpassed America’s. A decade ago, Australia lagged 40 per cent behind the US. By 2010, it was well ahead – by about $15,000 per head, or almost one-third, in fact. If this achievement were a sporting triumph, Australians would have erupted in a frenzy of celebration."

In the Forbes ten happiest countries list, Australia ranked number 4 ahead of the USA at 10 In the Forbes list, my friend’s country ranked not far behind Australia, while three neighbouring Scandinavian countries made the top three. In the Forbes happiest cities index, Melbourne and Sydney ranked in the top five. The Economist recently ranked Melbourne as the world’s most livable city.

Optimism is different to happiness. So what do the figures say about Australian optimism?

An August survey by recruitment firm Randstad, showed that Australians are among the most optimistic in the world with respect to future job prospects. An Allianz-Newspoll study published in August showed the overall Allianz Future Optimism Index rose from 60.4 in July 2011 from 59.9 in the first survey, which was conducted in November 2010.

What I found interesting was a press release quoting Allianz Managing Director, Terry Towell, which seemed to be searching for a negative and found it, "Australians have become less optimistic about their economic future, with the Economy Index falling 3 points from 62 to 59."

Another Australian financial institution, Suncorp, published a Life Confidence Index in 2010. While it has disappeared from the company website, its last findings were "The latest Suncorp Life Confidence Index is 59.4 out of 100, down 1.5 points since April this year."

Again, the press release seemed to go out if its way to find bad news in the report. If you google the two indexes, you find press headlines like "Women forecast grim economic future", "Half of Australians not optimistic about the economy", and "Aussie Confidence on Shaky Ground".

Is it a media culture or a national culture?

Hartcher notes, "surpassing the country regarded as the benchmark of prosperity in the key measure of income was not even noted in the mainstream media. Winning not sporting gold but real gold, the gold of high incomes and high living standards, is, apparently, trivial."

My Scandinavian friend obviously thought that optimism was more American than Australian. It’s something I will research some more. If you have views or expert opinion, please feel free to send me a note.

In my work I sell the virtues of investing in Victoria and selling the quality of our exports. I do get to see the best that Australia has to offer the world and talk about it, write about it, and think about it every day.

So, to my Scandinavian friend, it’s a personal and Australian optimism I exhibit. Made more optimistic by living amongst the Americans? I’ll let others judge.

Victor Perton is Commissioner to the Americas for Victoria. He represents Victoria’s interests and promotes and positions the State in regards to investment attraction, export development, innovation capability, tourism, education, and business and skilled migration. He is a former Director of the Victorian Government’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and Member of Parliament for Doncaster from 1998-2006.