One can only fight this pessimism for themselves.
For some people there is no urge to fight it. They want to be part of the hardest times. Perhaps it works as a coping mechanism and in the end the problems most relatable to you are those that you are facing.
But if someone truly wants to feel less pessimism, all you have to do is to look back and reflect on history. A lot of people miss how long some “modern” problems have truly existed, long before it became relevant to them, from decades to millenniums. Some are totally aware of it, but it may be difficult to look at the past of a problem where you didn’t care about it or may even have been part of the problem. Or the history was so long ago that you only look at is as stories and nothing you can relate to.
We also underestimate our ability to live through the hell and normalize it. We were doomed multiple times and here we are. Vice versa, we underestimate the quality of life (especially in the western world) we have today. It’s not only hygiene, health and entertainment. We have progressed in our thoughts so much. Again, a lot of problems have only changed in how we recognize them as such. I’m not saying you shouldn’t fight fascism, because a lot of modern fascism used to be normalized not too long. I’m saying that we should be aware that we live in a time where we don’t ignore these problems in the first place.
One can only fight this pessimism for themselves. For some people there is no urge to fight it. They want to be part of the hardest times. Perhaps it works as a coping mechanism and in the end the problems most relatable to you are those that you are facing.
But if someone truly wants to feel less pessimism, all you have to do is to look back and reflect on history. A lot of people miss how long some “modern” problems have truly existed, long before it became relevant to them, from decades to millenniums. Some are totally aware of it, but it may be difficult to look at the past of a problem where you didn’t care about it or may even have been part of the problem. Or the history was so long ago that you only look at is as stories and nothing you can relate to.
We also underestimate our ability to live through the hell and normalize it. We were doomed multiple times and here we are. Vice versa, we underestimate the quality of life (especially in the western world) we have today. It’s not only hygiene, health and entertainment. We have progressed in our thoughts so much. Again, a lot of problems have only changed in how we recognize them as such. I’m not saying you shouldn’t fight fascism, because a lot of modern fascism used to be normalized not too long. I’m saying that we should be aware that we live in a time where we don’t ignore these problems in the first place.