According to a recent Harris Poll survey, "People with higher incomes are a little more satisfied with their lives, and are much more likely to feel their personal situation has improved in the last five years."

Well, at least there's a portion of the population that's feeling good about things in this era of jobless recovery and witless celebrity.

Actually, if you dig deeper into the poll results, released by Harris Interactive News Thursday, you'll find that 88 percent of the respondents declared themselves satisfied with their lives. That figure is lower than in the four previous surveys since 2003 in which the question was asked, but impressive nevertheless given current circumstances.

It really is a staggering result, if one thinks about it. At a time of economic doom and gloom, of daily pronouncements about the need for government intervention at every turn, nearly nine out of 10 of us are satisfied with our lot in life.

The survey firm polled 1,019 adults nationwide by telephone between Oct. 13 and 18.

More people (40 percent) feel their situation has improved over the last five years. This, it should be noted, encompasses the despised George W. Bush's second term, as well as most of Barack Obama's first year in office. Only a quarter of the respondents said it had become worse.

And speaking of hope, more than half feel their situation will improve over the next five years.

According to Harris: "Fully 82 percent of Echo Boomers (aged 18-30) and majorities of Gen X (64 percent) and Baby Boomers (54 percent) believe their situation will improve. Only 21 percent of Matures believe this."

So it seems that, despite the pressures of the deepest recession in a generation, we are still a nation of youthful optimism. That bodes well for the country's future.