Revolutionary Optimism

What it is and How to Cultivate It

“Our Experience is Helping Friends!”

It is admittedly difficult to remain optimistic in a world of impending climate catastrophe, debt, political corruption, state-sanctioned genocide, gerontocracy, systemic racism, persistent sexism, and a general sense of helpless alienation. To be an optimist in these conditions is to live a lie. Cutting yourself off from the world around you, telling yourself fairytales about a world that can never and will never be. One might figure it’s time to abandon the optimism, embrace the pessimism, and resign ourselves to our ever-quickening collective decline. 

But what if, rather than limiting ourselves to the oversimplified and blind “optimism” above, we challenged ourselves to commit to a fiercer optimism? One rooted not in fairytales but in historical precedent. One that connects us seamlessly through time and space to people who’ve engaged in struggle and, most importantly, won or at the very least expanded our awareness of what could be possible. One that acknowledges that pessimism and resignation are powerful tools in the hands of our oppressors. An optimism that is self-aware, generative, and life-affirming. An optimism that is revolutionary.