unassumingdink t1_j2ttofm wrote
Reply to comment by Wilddog73 in Look on the dark side | We must keep the flame of pessimism burning: it is a virtue for our deeply troubled times, when crude optimism is a vice by ADefiniteDescription
It's a safe assumption to make when we can't even progress to the "trying" part because that might mess with some rich guy's bank account. Politicians are owned by the same rich guys. For decades, we've been trying to convince optimists that this bribery is an incomprehensibly huge issue that infects every other issue like a cancer, and that nothing truly positive can happen under those conditions. But the optimists just went ahead and assumed that the bribed politicians (at least the ones in their party) would fight for them anyway, despite the bribes.
Wilddog73 t1_j2tzvwe wrote
Not on the small scale. I would've listened.
But apparently I just wasn't worth the effort. Better to talk down to me and act like they've won the argument without even trying.
unassumingdink t1_j2u0oyr wrote
Small scale efforts are like trying to bail out a sinking ocean liner with a thimble. Worse, they make people complacent and satisfied that they've solved the problem when 99.9999% of the problem remains.
Wilddog73 t1_j2u16y9 wrote
Small scale efforts are showing the kind of compassion and good will you claim to have for world/societal issues to the common man around you.
It's integrity.
unassumingdink t1_j2u2th2 wrote
So it's basically a symbolic gesture, then. We've already been doing those for the last 50 years or so. They're not working. We recycled all our plastic bottles to help the environment, then we found out that we were being lied to the whole time, and 98% of them were ending up in landfills! You'd think that would disturb even the most fervent optimist, but nope. They just kept right on trucking, same strategies, same viewpoints, steady on into the void.
Wilddog73 t1_j2u4mvx wrote
I'm not talking about that right now, I'm talking about how they treat their fellow man when they ask what's going on.
The pessimism that leads them to brush off their curiosity and escalate conflict.
unassumingdink t1_j2u88i5 wrote
The pessimism is what comes after decades of optimism didn't work. And from decades of being on the receiving end of bad faith arguments engineered by oil industry propagandists, tested on focus groups for maximum impact, and disseminated among purportedly well-meaning optimists. Yeah, some people are gonna get snippy with you after dealing with that. And anyway, there comes a point when optimism is indistinguishable from delusion. The eternally optimistic make it a point of pride not to be convinced of anything that threatens their optimism, and thus their worldview. Convincing people like that feels about as achievable as trying to talk a devout religious person out of their religion.
Wilddog73 t1_j2uehb2 wrote
Blind faith/optimism as you describe is bad, but full-on pessimism is if anything, blowing up in their faces at the moment.
It isn't proving to be anymore of a viable solution as "eternal optimism" is.
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