Why is unjustified pessimism so much more tolerable than unjustified optimism?

[Charlotte Little]

64. What appears as pessimism to some...

...isn't pessimism at all to others.

I believe a battle isn't truly over until the war is won. We're in fierce battles at present, but the war will wage on because white power is fading. Eventually, the chickens will come home to roost. But between now and then, many lives will be destroyed and/or lost altogether (e.g. Puerto Rico, immigrant families, Americans who lose healthcare, etc.)

We're in the part of the story now where the fan knows what it's about to be hit with. We shouldn't deny that just because none of us can foresee the future. In fact, denying it could potentially bring a far worse outcome. Just imagine if there was no resistance to what's happening in our country currently.

Also, it sometimes takes everything crumbling before anyone will act. It could be argued that losing hope is exactly what it will take for some folks to stand up and fight for not only their own rights but the rights of others.

Hope isn't always what it's cracked up to be. I can maintain hope that Mueller will eventually take down Trump and his god-awful flying monkeys. But if I don't take action myself and do something, anything, toward resisting the current state of affairs, I am likely to be very disappointed. I mean, there's a 50-50 chance of that, right?

So, being positive and hoping is definitely valuable, but it isn't any more so than feeling as if all is lost and fighting as if your life depends on it.

All of our lives do depend on it (think big picture like, say, climate change or nuclear disaster at the hands of the orange turd).