Pessimism Is a Luxury We Can't Afford

adjective, noun

1. The belief that a better world is possible through political struggle, and (especially) that participating in the struggle is itself transformational

There is a difference between ​“optimism” and ​“revolutionary optimism.” Where the optimist says everything will just work out, the revolutionary optimist knows the future is not yet written. ​“In the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act,” Rebecca Solnit writes in Hope in the Dark. Bad things happen, but we can make some things better. And, as Solnit writes, ​“action is impossible without hope.”

“Those who have the guns and the money … seem invincible,” Howard Zinn concedes in ​“The Optimism of Uncertainty.” But ​“that apparent power has, again and again, proved vulnerable” — from the overthrow of the Russian tsar to U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. In an oft-quoted speech, novelist Ursula K. Le Guin observed how structures of power only seem permanent from the inside: ​“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.” Change is often messy and indirect, Solnit argues. The divine right of kings was cast off in France by the 1789 revolution, but the new government did not last. Still, ideas from this revolution — such as universal primary education — soon spread across Europe. In another example of indirect consequences, Solnit writes, the abolition movement not only ended slavery but gave rise to the feminist movement. The effects of our actions can ripple for generations, even if it seems like your local protest accomplished nothing immediate.

Of course. In fact, a key part of revolutionary optimism is the belief that participation is meaningful all by itself — that uniting with others, in a culture that wants us atomized, is itself resistance. Being part of something bigger than ourselves is a source of genuine meaning for many. As Zinn notes: ​“To live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”

This is part of ​“The Big Idea,” a series offering brief introductions to progressive theories, policies, tools and strategies that can help us envision a world beyond capitalism. For past In These Times coverage of these ideas, see, Praxis Makes Perfect and ​​“Terrorist” rhetoric makes us all less safe.