Cruel and callous when on top, afraid and smiling all the way to the grave when not- that pretty much sums up the post-Reagan zeitgeist. And if you're not just as cheerful as the rest, "you've got some personal problems." You're a weirdo if you complain. It's your own fault if you're traumatized by a massacre. It's your own fault if you're poor. It's your own fault if you get downsized, overworked, bullied, and fail. Get over it." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Part VI: Welcome to the Dollhouse, page 239
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Cruel and callous when on top, afraid and smiling all the way to the grave when not- that pretty much sums up the post-Reagan zeitgeist. And if you're not just as cheerful as the rest, "you've got some personal problems." You're a weirdo if you complain. It's your own fault if you're traumatized by a massacre. It's your own fault if you're poor. It's your own fault if you get downsized, overworked, bullied, and fail. Get over it.

— Mark Ames

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Cruel and callous when on top, afraid and smiling all the way to the grave when not- that pretty much sums up the post-Reagan zeitgeist. And if you're not just as cheerful as the rest, "you've got some personal problems." You're a weirdo if you complain. It's your own fault if you're traumatized by a massacre. It's your own fault if you're poor. It's your own fault if you get downsized, overworked, bullied, and fail. Get over it." in the context of "Part VI: Welcome to the Dollhouse, page 239" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Mark Ames" (Quotes, Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion, From Reagan's Workplaces to Clinton's Columbine and Beyond (2005)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Mark Ames#youre#fault#own#traumatized#postreagan#overworked#zeitgeist#downsized#cheerful#personal#problems
Mark Ames

About Mark Ames

Mark Ames (born 3 October 1965) is an American journalist and writer known for his work as an expatriate editor in Russia. He was the founding editor of the satirical biweekly The eXile in Moscow, to which he regularly contributed before he returned to the United States. Ames has also written for the New York Press, The Nation, Playboy, The San Jose Mercury News, Alternet, Птюч Connection, GQ (Russian edition), and is the author of three books.