Do you want to feel optimistic about the U.S. economy?  If so, you might not want to read the rest of this article.  In many areas of the United States today, you can almost smell the fear and the anxiety in the air.  Survey after survey has found that the American people are extremely pessimistic about the direction the economy is headed.  In fact, many recent surveys have found that economic pessimism is at the highest levels ever recorded.  There has been an astonishing loss of faith in the system.