Fifi,

>One can see why it's so attractive to the wealthy and powerful since it confirms to them they're "good" people even if they've attained their >power through exploitation and creating suffering for others. And one can see why it's sold to poor people (just as one can see the utility >karma had for maintaining hierarchal and very unequal caste/class societies) but it's always amazed me that poor people buy into it.

This is an age-old and very difficult issue. When you allow nature to take its course, people will sort themselves into weak and strong, or haves and have-nots. On one hand, this offends our sensibilities of social justice, because no one should starve while someone near them has an excess they cannot use. On the other hand, the possibility of attaining wealth and status is the lure that leads entrepreneurs to risk everything they own and hold dear for their vision. Overall, this leads to greater productivity, and this benefits everyone in the society, from poorest to richest.

Historically, the opportuntiy for personal gain has led to a tremendous elevation in the standard of living for humanity. In our own society, while there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor, even the poor don't starve to death, as they have in most of recorded history. Thus, there is a dilemma here. Enforced egalitarianism produces widely shared misery. Freewheeling capitalism produces a huge gap between rich and poor. Take your pick.

I grew up in the communist Soviet Union, where everyone was equal (except Jews, homosexuals, and anyone who questioned the grandeur of the communist ideal), but life sucked for everyone (except those who were politically powerful and could get Western stuff). I'd rather not go back there. I vote for the free market (with policing against fraud and extortion) and hope for the best.

You know... this discussion is probably not appropriate for "Skeptic Talk". Want to take it private? Or to a tribe more appropriate for this?

On the main point of your post, I wholeheartedly agree. "Positive thinking" often seems to equate to the notion that everything is just as it should be. Beyond the obvious Panglossian [if anyone reading this does not know what that means, it's worth Googling] parody, this seems to absolve the haves from responsibility for the rest of the world, and may keep us all from striving to achieve something better... except for those whose inner Eeoyre is inclined to a negative and hopeless worldview in the first place.