Optimism encourages activism.

[MineralMan]

Pessimism enables inaction.

Activism breeds change.
Inaction begets nothing.

Those are my aphorisms for a Sunday morning in June. Now, I have to go write the content for pages about carpet and upholstery cleaning, because poverty inhibits everything.

[JaneyVee]

1. Yup. Optimism gives us reason to fight for a better tomorrow.

Pessimism breeds bitterness and cynicism.

[MineralMan]

5. Without optimism, there can be no democracy.

It is founded on optimism. It depends on optimism. Our founding fathers were supremely optimistic.

[malthaussen]

11. Oh, I disagree with that.

The founders worked very hard to put in as many safeguards as they could think of, because they were afraid of tyranny from both sides. You can argue that the act of creating a government is ipso facto optimistic (and queue up Mr. Franklin's quote about rising suns here), but when it came to the nuts and bolts of putting it together, they wanted to put in place every obstruction they could think of to the thing getting out of hand.

-- Mal

[MineralMan]

14. They did that because they were optimistic about being able

to create a system to protect people-driven government. They succeeded remarkably well at an extremely difficult task. Their efforts can be improved though, within the very framework they set up. But only if we have the will to do so.

[malthaussen]

16. Clearly we have a different perspective here.

I'll give you Jefferson, possibly, but I don't think he was representative of the founders in general here. The emphasis was all in protecting from, not enabling, government power. And the original provisions for electing the Senate (as opposed to the Representatives) and the President reflect the concern on the other side of the tyranny of the majority.

Although it is about the previous revolution in Britain, have you looked into Lawrence Stone's work about the causes of revolution?

-- Mal

[AgingAmerican]

2. Bernie is the Optimism candidate

Go Bernie!!

[MineralMan]

3. Yes. He is definitely that.

That's why I'll caucus for him on March 1 in my precinct in Minnesota.

On the other hand, support for any Democratic candidate is optimistic in nature.

[cali]

8. Bernie says we live in a state close to oligarchy and he's even said

he hopes it's not too late to change it.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes. He is an optimist. He wants activism and change.

If he were a pessimist, he wouldn't be running for the presidency. I support his optimism.

[cali]

4. denying reality is unhealthy. pretending we live in a functional democracy

enables the continued and accelerated erosion of what remains.

[MineralMan]

7. Hello!

[malthaussen]

6. More so than damage control, I suppose.

However, revolutions are built on being afraid of losing something, not on rising expectations.

-- Mal

[MineralMan]

9. Revolutions are built on plans to make things better.

They are optimistic to the nth degree. Look at our American Revolution, if you will. It was designed to build a new reality, not to prevent losing something. That was already lost.

[cali]

13. lol

You really do live in fantasy world.

[malthaussen]

15. We definitely differ here.

I'd say our Revolution was a reaction to fears of losing the privileged position we held within the Empire with regards to taxation and several other laws. After all, it was only after the central government started imposing internal taxes (Stamp act, e.g.) that we started to get really pissed off.

-- Mal

[cali]

12. a bunch of strung together cliches that are not inevitably true- as history shows us

[MineralMan]

17. If those are cliches, you should be able to find them

by Googling them in quotes. Truly.

Doing so for the first three leads directly to this thread, and only to this thread.

The fourth, however, has been written before, as I discovered. It has seven matches on Google. This thread is match #3.

The first three statements are original and unique to this thread, not cliches. The fourth, I found, is not unique, although it follows the other three very well and has been used rarely by others.

Go see for yourself. I don't write in cliches.

[MFrohike]

18. Yeesh

If optimism encouraged activism, America would be full of social movements out in the street everyday. Dignity is what actually encourages activism. Don't confuse the two.

[MineralMan]

22. Social movement out in the street?

They're going on all the time. How do you think Minnesota got a marriage equality law through the legislature? How do you think laws requiring medical labs to adopt out the animals they use when the tests are over? We got that law passed in Minnesota, too, and in California, and in New York and New Jersey just this week.

Who says people aren't in the street? Optimistic people ARE in the street. You just don't notice them. Maybe they aren't in the streets where you walk. You can bring them to your street, though.

[MFrohike]

36. Allow me to clarify

It would be OVERRUN with them. One swallow doesn't make a spring, and neither does success on one issue or in one state.

When I say dignity, I mean that one's involvement isn't based on "gee, we can make this happen" but on "this is wrong and I've got to help make it right." See the contrast? Staying in a campaign or movement may be based on the chance of success, but I find it completely ridiculous that anyone joins because he or she is an optimist. Why would an optimist bother? After all, everything will turn out just fine anyway, so why waste the energy? Yeesh.

[fizzgig]

19. i have a hard time being optimistic about the future of our country

but i will fight for what is right until my dying breath.

[kentuck]

20. I think anger against the status quo may be a stronger factor?

It's difficult to be "optimistic" with the present political realities, in my opinion.

[MineralMan]

21. I've never found it difficult to be optimistic.

Even when Nixon was in office. Even when I stood and listened to MLK give his "How Long?" speech. Not during the 1968 Democratic Convention. I felt angry sometimes. I felt sad often. I've always been optimistic, because I know what has to be done and have tried to do it.

I leave pessimism and defeatism to others. I have no time nor inclination for it.

[jwirr]

38. So how do you feel about the growing power of corporatism? About the failure to confront the

climate change issues? About voter suppression which only gets worse the longer the rethugs are in office? About wealth inequality? About the Koch brothers ownership of congress better known as Citizens United? About endless wars in the ME and the power of the MIC? About police brutality and racism and the power of the police? About the lost of the safety net and the lose of power of those who use it?

About the issue of power to the people in general which is linked to each of the above problems?

These are the real factors we are dealing with today. To say that the situation is the same as the hardships of the past IMO is to fail to recognize just how close we are to losing it all. We had ways of dealing with Nixon. MLK gave us ways of dealing with the racism and voter issues of that day. And what happened at the Democratic Convention in 1968 in itself brought about change. We still had power.

We had problems we knew how to deal with and the power to enforce it. I am not sure we have that today. Because then we had the power on our side. I do not see that today. The PTB have the House, the Senate, often the SCOTUS and even on some issues the WH today. This time we are fighting a war for survival on many levels. And it is just us little people doing the fighting.

If the only way we are going to be activists is to have optimism then we would not all be out here supporting our own candidates and voting. I believe that optimism is very important but to ignore the horror of the problems we face is not the way to be optimistic. To acknowledge them and the strength of the people fighting for them gives us an clear picture of what we must do to win and with that knowledge comes optimism. We know what we are fighting for. And we know that the whole problem is connected.

[whatchamacallit]

23. I'm optimistic about razing the temple and starting anew

Continuing to worship in it, not so much.

[MineralMan]

24. I don't see any sign of any movement to "raze the temple."

That may be your desire, but I'm not seeing anything tending that way, really.

We're a long way from such a thing. We'll be "worshiping in that temple" for some time to come, I'm sure. So, I'm working on the next election, and expect to be working on the one after that. By the time any "razing" goes on, I'll be dead and buried for decades. Until then, I'm optimistic that we can make positive changes. Same as always.

[whatchamacallit]

43. It's likely climate change will do it for us

Doom, Gloom, Boom

[hobbit709]

25. What happens when Charlie Brown finally decides to NOT try to kick the football?

[MineralMan]

26. Charlie Brown is a cartoon character.

I don't deal in cartoon characters. There's too much real life going on.

But, what happens when he finally makes contact with that football? I'm guessing a field goal.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. A quote from Howard Zinn

“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” Howard Zinn

[MineralMan]

28. Thanks for posting that.

If we lose optimism due to adverse conditions, we lose an important part of our humanity, I think.

I had not read that from Zinn before.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. For some of the very fortunate on DU to spread gloom to others is I think an act of

selfishness. To deny hope and aspiration to those who are in need of basics when you yourself are living without any needs at all seems heartless to me.

[jwirr]

39. So as one of those in need on DU I should just ignore the big picture that will effect my entire

family and just keep on smiling? My entire political life has been based on acknowledging reality. Doing what was best to correct those problems. There is no honest way that I can say "Oh, things are all going to be just fine?" To but it in a cliché: Worry about today - tomorrow will take care of itself." I do not believe that cliché.

[Kalidurga]

37. Howard Zinn spoke to my soul.

When I got to the part in his People's History of the United States, where he takes apart the arguments for dropping the nuclear bombs on Japan I felt so liberated. It was about 10 years after I had argued with my history teacher that it was totally unnecessary and I considered it an act of genocide more than an act of war.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

29. Optimism breeds laziness.

If you think things are going well, there's no need to strive to get what you want. Just sit back and enjoy the good things rolling in and the air of inevitability.

If you think your candidate is the underdog, being worked against by the party machinery and the media, you work that much harder for them. You might be pessimistic about their chances of winning, but you'll do what you can to improve those odds.


Those are my aphorisms for Sunday afternoon.

[MineralMan]

30. No. Optimism does not have to do with what is.

It has to do with what can be.

I am often sad about the present, but always optimistic about the future. That's what motivates me.

Optimism always looks forward.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

32. I'm pessimistic, which is why I fight for a future better than the one I expect.

So I guess it's different strokes for different folks. Some people are motivated by optimism, some are motivated by pessimism.

[kentuck]

41. Optimism does not encourage activism in the bigger picture...

If you are optimistic and believe that the majority of people in this country are happy with the status quo and are "activated" to get out the vote and to encourage the direction we are going, most believing that a simple change in the Party majority, is enough to make one optimistic about making some needed changes, even though the reality says you are naive to believe that the present war against the 99% will not continue, and will not increase their power over the vast majority of the people, then that is a naivete that is out of step with the duty of being a progressive. In that respect, you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

(I use the word "you" in a generic sense, not pertaining to any poster in particular.)

[jwirr]

31. You are correct - that is very much true of the 60s. But if you do not have knowledge of the real

factors you are up against then you are tilting at windmills. Some times the reality of the situation are very depressing, even pessimistic. One must keep on fighting regardless.

[MineralMan]

33. It is possible to be optimistic, even in the face

of seemingly insurmountable odds.

My personal optimism encourages me to work toward small positive goals, rather than trying to take on solutions I can't really influence. So far, that optimism has led me to work toward things that have been successful, both personally and politically. I don't need to defeat the windmill. That's not within my capabilities.

I can help to change things in smaller ways, though, and have succeeded. So, I remain optimistic, even when others just decide to pack it in. It's my nature, and my reinforcements have been positive overall, throughout my 69 years.

I would not and cannot be anything but optimistic, as long as I act to try to make things happen.

[jwirr]

40. I hear what you are saying. I work on both levels when I can. And the problems today call for both.

[treestar]

35. Yes. So true.

Sounds like some pretty dull writing. But we got to do what we got to do.

[kentuck]

42. Activism at its heart...

[hunter]

44. Optimists are responsible for everything that is wrong with the U.S.A., and maybe the world.

The only people more culpable for the ills of this world are the racists, misogynists, haters of LGBT people, bullies, and violent religious fundamentalists and ideologues.

Optimism is the grease in the engines of hell.

I exist because my ancestors managed to escape troubles before the optimists realized everything was turning to shit and the ships stopped sailing.

The Irish and religious heretics among them, and them that lived in difficult natural environments, always figured optimism was a wealthy man's luxury.

My ancestors all fled to America because everything was turning to shit in their European and British Isle homelands. Those who hadn't escaped directly to the American Wild West fled the U.S. Civil War before it was official.

One of my ancestors was a mail order bride from impoverished Northern Europe to Salt Lake City. She didn't much like sharing a husband so she ran off with a U.S. government surveyor who had been exiled from more comfortable work in the developed eastern U.S..

One of my grandfathers was a conscientious objector during World War II. They gave him a choice: Prison or building Liberty and Victory Ships. He built ships.

Two of my great grandfathers were optimists. One was a San Francisco businessman who bet everything on the wrong players in the early twentieth century movie and aerospace businesses. One was a mining engineer who was always either successful or bankrupt. When he was successful he'd bet it all on his next great adventure. The wealth of these great grandfathers did not survive the market crash of 1929, but the hard-headed pessimistic women had not let them bet everything, so their kids usually had a safe place to sleep and something to eat. My great grandmas were hard women who retained sole ownership of their family homes and homesteads up until the day they died.

I'm well taught that pessimism is not effective in U.S. politics, but pessimism is what motivates me in my activism. I see the dark side and I don't want to go there.

Optimists are blind. All of them.

And for certain, I'll be walking away from U.S.A. if it all goes FUBAR.

Any optimism I ever experience arises from a very dark place,

[knixphan]

45. They will attack your optimism...

...They will call you naive
They will say you need to be jaded and fearful in order to survive
That ain't true, cuz I'm still alive
They just haven't experienced optimism like we have
If they did, they'd know
There’s nothing naive about hope
We just process fear more productively
Stay optimistic, friend
Ignore the haters
Ignore the fearful
Find more peeps like yourself
Work together
Kick ass
Change the world
#Feelthebern