I both agree and disagree. It's alot like that movie "The Secret", and the law of attraction. Which I also agreed and disagreed with. In
that movie, it is right in the fact that you will attract what you put out. But the movie completely forgot about the part of making the
path(action) for getting what you wanted. If you desire something out of the fridge, you have an attraction for it. And you can sit there and
think about the item in that fridge all day long and it's not going to come to you. At some point, you will have to think of a path and a way to get
that item out of the fridge.
And I think this concept fits that same bill. Simply thinking negative things isn't going to produce negative things in itself.
However, this is where I agree with you. If in your thinking process you only have negative thoughts, you are more likely to act based on those
negative thoughts.
To take it back to the fridge example. If there was something in your immediate way of getting to the fridge. If you sit around and think
negatively about it - "Oh I'll never get to the fridge", then you will most likely end up taking actions which do not lead you to it. However if
you think about it positively "Oh I know I'll figure out a way", then you will most likely end up finding a solution to the problem.
It goes from thought to action. The more negative thoughts you commit, the more likely you are to make a negative action. And vice versa.
Sitting around thinking the world is going to be better isn't going to make the world better. I've tried that.
So if you focus on the news and all that negatively, it is very likely that people who only view and think of the negatively will react the same. In
which case, you will reap what you sow.
I have negative thoughts all the time. Can't help it, though I've tried. They just pop up there without command. I just try to recognize that
I am having a bad thought, and then when I recognize it, I can think more positively to find a more positive action to take.
Like racism. I'm not racist at all. But I'd be lieing if I said racist thoughts never entered my mind. I don't know why they do, but they do.
But I would never act on them, and I recognize what it is right away. I'll think to myself - oh wow that was racist and wrong, and as I recognize
it I do not act upon it. I remember that it's just a stupid stereotype, and that has nothing to do with who they really are. If I never
recognized what it was, then I would likely only have those negative thoughts and I would most likely act in a racist way.
If you watch the news, and only see something happening as negative, and have negative thinking, then you are more likely to do something negative in
response, like start a war. If you think more positive about what is happening on, then you are more likely to have a positive response, and not do
something negative.
No doubt there are those who would like you to only have those negative thoughts and actively work to support them.
So it's the actions that matter, but what you think has a direct relationship with the actions you take.