"I am a pessimist by nature. Many people can only keep on fighting when they expect to win. I'm not like that, I always expect to lose. I fight anyway, and sometimes I win."
-- Richard Stallman
Fuck hope and optimism. I am gonna go out and fight no matter what. Doing nothing makes me sick.
For me it was far more "we're fucked" than inspiring call to action. Haven't given up trying yet, though I am not at all hopeful now.
I can imagine this being true.
If a meteor is going to destroy Earth you probably aren't spending your last few days doing the dishes and sweeping the floors. You're only doing that if there's a > 50% chance that we'll be able to divert it.
And better than "being optimistic" is rapidly developing the technology and passing the law to make it realistic.
Not everyone sizes up the issues.
In one election someone even proposed a litmus test "who would you rather have a beer with?". In other it's been "who would you invite into your home". Neither are ever going to happen, but it's easier to tug at people's emotions than get them to listen to information.
Blair got a fair few votes as he had a nice smile, the Tories tried to demonise him with their "demon eyes" campaign. Go back further and there were elements of the same in Michael Foot losing election against Thatcher. He famously attended a national event in very poor weather and wore a brand new coat, chosen by his wife, that the right wing press tried -- very, very successfully -- to brand as a donkey jacket, and him a bottom of the heap disorganised type, when it was just a normal, formal and supposedly very expensive duffel coat.
Or Attlee against Churchill at the tail end of WW2. Churchill was going around in style, using an election train and limousine. Attlee was going around casually mixing with the troops who were starting to come back from Europe, and talking to the people, as one of the people. Thus Britain's great war winning leader was resoundingly kicked out, in a Labour landslide in July 45 -- between VE Day and VJ Day.