IN DEFENSE OF PESSIMISM

 

“Optimism is a cruel philosophy hiding under a reassuring name.” Voltaire

Optimism is not the point-of-view that will see us through during these trying times. There is no reason to believe that things will suddenly get better. Not when the Trump administration seeks to alter or terminate many of our most revered institutions and traditional American values. In a few brief months, the unimaginable has happened. However, things are never so bad that they cannot get worse.

Barrack Obama was defined in part by his 2008 campaign slogan of “Hope.” It uplifted many voters and helped him win his presidential election. Unfortunately, the slogan contained no realistic understanding of the nation’s challenges or how to solve them.

Sixteen years later, being optimistic that Trump could never again run for office did not work. Hoping that voters would see through the Trump propaganda and not elect him to a second term got us nowhere. Convincing ourselves that Trump did not mean what he said during his rowdy rallies was a pipe dream. Having faith that the Democratic party could mount a last-minute national campaign and defeat Trump was unrealistic. Hope that the “better angels of our nature” would rise and regain the upper hand has not materialized.

On the other hand, despair and fatalism are also not the answer.  While there is no guarantee that things will get better, there is every reason not to give in. As stated by Timonthy Snyder in his landmark book On Tyranny, “We must take responsibility for the face of the world. Our words and gestures or their absence count very much.” Snyder points out that throughout history apathetic resignation to an authoritarian regime only results in more of the same.

Perhaps in a world that promises us nothing, there is a better way than unrealistic optimism or total despair to approach life – a way of thinking to do the right thing despite the chance that little good will come of our efforts.

A philosopher from the University of St. Andrews, Mara Van Der Lugt, believes that there is an answer and wrote a stimulating book, Hopeful Pessimism, to prove her point. Her thesis is that crude optimism can no longer be a virtue in a breaking world. It may well prove to be our downfall. In an age of climate change, chronic regional warfare, and Donald Trump, the virtue we need is “hopeful pessimism.”

Van Der Lugt explains that when events give us little to be optimistic about, the tendency is to resist pessimism. Things must improve. They will get better. They have to. However, all too often—they get worse.

Conversely, hopeful pessimists do not assume the ultimate arrival of a positive change that will fix the problem. Instead, while they believe that individuals have no control over the direction of the world, with hopeful pessimism the only logical choice is to take action. Sitting on the side lines and waiting for a miracle is not an option.

In support of her thesis, Van Der Lugt touches on a wide range of philosophers from the Greek Stoics to Arthur Schopenhauer.  Literary references include The Lord of the Rings and Camus’s The Plague. The young environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, was further inspiration. From all these sources the author concludes that it is possible to be pessimistic about the future without being fatalistic. One can be a forceful activist for social change without any certainty of success. Van Der Lugt concludes that history has shown that “despair of a better future may be the precise point at which resistance takes place.”

Where does the concept of “hopeful” fit in, given the title of the book, Hopeful Pessimism? To find out, a journalist for the Atlantic, Gal Beckerman, interviewed the author. Van Der Lugt told him that “a certain kind of hope is compatible with pessimism.”  She insisted it must obey two ground rules. First, hope should be built on the uncertainty that “We just don’t know how things will turn out. Things might get pretty bad but there is no telling if things could get better again. It’s never a closed story.”

In the event an individual cannot form any concrete belief in a good ending, the second condition applies. “The individual must ask whether the cause you are fighting for would still be worth the effort if you knew you would never see it realized. The hope is value-oriented. It is driven by principles such as justice, duty, solidarity with your fellow humans, and just your sense of goodness. You act because you feel you must.”

The ability to work for something because it is the right thing to do, not because it stands a chance of success, has inspired political activists throughout history. Beckerman concludes in his Atlantic book review, of Hopeful Pessimism, “hopeful pessimism demands action, because there are no promises; it banishes wishful thinking."

The notion of hopeful pessimism struck a chord with me in connection with my thirty-five-year journey as a recovering alcoholic. The 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous has some similarities. Alcoholics are never guaranteed a better life because they stop drinking and work a recovery program. When sober, many recovering people face worse health, family, employment, and financial problems than when drinking. AA only promises the ability to face an uncertain future without alcohol, a noble goal in itself.