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The politics of despair and optimism
From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee
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| Chum For Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters |
The politics of despair and optimism
Last
week, I wrote contrasting the patriotism of fear and fighting with the
patriotism of compassion and community. This leads us back to a reconsideration
of the politics of despair vs. the politics of optimism. When living in
troubled and difficult times, it is not wrong to acknowledge the true state of
affairs – all the better to deal with it. But, there are unproductive and
productive responses to hardship.
First a
little whiplash: The railroads of England used to be a marvel. They tied the
country together, ran to well-chosen destinations, and ran on time. You could
depend on buying your ticket, catching your train, and getting where you were
going.
Goods, services, and citizens flowed easily. Then, in a time of
temporary decline, the managers decided to maximize short-term profits. They
invoked austerity measures. For a number of years, they repeated a cycle of
discontinuing the least-profitable routes. They were somehow surprised when,
