In her latest column for OpinionJournal, Peggy Noonan seems to sound like everyone's cranky old uncle, but maybe a little more eloquent:

I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon.

She focuses principally on the growing number of problems President face, and thus can't face. But, the presidency is only one manifestation of what I interpret as her fear that the US, and maybe the world, is going to be swallowed up into a big pit. You really have to read it to see how far goes her despair.

Certainly not a Virginia Postrel or a Michael Cox. Why is it that the "dismal" scientists seem to be the most optimistic about the future? I suppose when you see data of rising per capita GDP and lifespans, of falling infant mortality and disease rates, all around the world except in dictatorships, and you know WHY these trends occur, it tends to make one's glasses more rose-colored. In fact, why is it that only those who seem to seek political solutions to every problem are the ones most pessimistic about the future? I suppose if the taxpayers think the world is going to end because of bird flu, high gas prices, Scooter Libby, global warming, then they won't care about paying half their income to Uncle Sam. You can't take it with you, anyway.

So, what comes to my mind that should engender feelings of optimism?
1) Kelo v. New London. Okay, a terrible ruling, but did any of you seriously foresee the large backlash among average Americans against this ruling? A CNN.com quickvote the day after showed a large majority disagreeing with the ruling. 9 judges made the wrong decision, but I'd argue several million properly understand why the decision was wrong, which is heartening to proponents of private property rights.
2) Hurricanes. Okay, lots of damage and horrible behavior by a very small subset of society. As with 9-11, though, the number of volunteers outweighed by huge magnitudes the number of victims. Donors were turned away at shelters because they couldn't handle the quantity of donations.
3) Rosa Parks. Someone should have told her that times are bad now and waited to see how many minutes she laughed.
4) After my hockey game last night, I'm down to 170 pounds.
Of course, the problems associated with items 1-3 are arguably due to government meddling or manipulation. SCOTUS, FEMA, Jim Crow. Do I feel pessimistic about the future because of the private sector? New Coke? Hollywood's lame choices of new movies to present to us? Perhaps, but then again I am not forced to abide by private sector blunders.

We all have more control over our own lives than we think. How does it improve your life being pessimistic? You'd think Ms. Noonan, who wrote a book on John Paul II, would follow his spirit of hopefulness.