Why Radical Optimism?
The reasoning behind Radical Optimism and why we believe it is life changing.
Two reasons: The spiritual and historic.
First, the spiritual reason. Rachel and I believe that our universe is more than just its material parts. What we see here on earth is not the end. There is something bigger going on in the spiritual world.
Did that sound a little hippy-dippy to you? Let me explain. There is a story involved and it is directed by a God made known to us through Jesus. Jesus is like any other historical figure-- he can be examined for what He said and did. We believe those things to be true as laid out in the first four books in the New Testament.
When we encounter suffering we know there’s a God who cares, even when it doesn’t seem like He is acting in the moment, we know He has acted in history to redeem all that pain. This cosmic belief puts us in a story that’s not directed by us and has an ultimate happy ending like all our favorite stories do because death is not the final answer.
How can we not be radically optimistic in that context?
Second, the historical reason. We both love history—Taylor majored in it—and the more we learn about the past, the more we come to appreciate the present and have hope for the future.
Take child mortality rates. Did you know that for almost all humans who have ever lived up until the mid 1900s, nearly half of children died before reaching puberty? That rate globally is now 4.3%. Were my family and I zapped back to 1730, anywhere in the world, odds are only one of my boys would live to be an adult. Now, I have the expectation that both will live to adulthood. That’s an amazing blessing!
We could go on and on with similar statistics about the eradication of smallpox and other formerly common deadly diseases, air conditioning, food production, transportation, entertainment options, vocational freedom, lower rates of violence (especially for women!) and wars, political stability, and so much more.
Can you imagine what your great-great-grandma would say if she saw the comfort that you live in today? Grocery stores are brimming with more choices than we know what to do with, you could take an easy plane flight to Florida, Amazon deliveries of cleaning supplies show up on your doorstep, and a screen in your pocket lets you talk to your family across the country at any given moment?!
How can we not be radically optimistic in that context?
Despite these realities we seem to be in the midst of bad news, pessimism, and anxiety. Younger people especially are reporting higher rates of anxiety and depression year over year. Pew recently released a survey with rather bleak responses:
“Sizable majorities of U.S. adults say that in 2050 – just over 25 years away – the U.S. economy will be weaker, the United States will be less important in the world, political divisions will be wider and there will be a larger gap between the rich and the poor. Far fewer adults predict positive developments in each of these areas.”
In a March 2023 Wall Street Journal survey, there were precipitous drops among values that “are ‘very important’ to Americans.”
For instance, 60% said “having children” was “very important” in 1998 and now that number is only 30%.
It gets worse for younger demographics: “Only 23% of adults under age 30 said that having children was very important.”
We could go on with additional surveys, studies, and anecdotes. Perhaps you feel a bit this way yourself. In a traditional media environment that’s 24/7 and driven by a “if it’s bleeds it leads” incentive, plus, thanks to smartphones, an ability to see what’s going on the world over in nearly every community, all mixed together with our human negativity bias, we can feel quite bad about things. Even if there’s a spiritual and historical reality that gives us reason to be optimistic.
No matter what I’ve said above, suffering, sometimes profound, needless, unjust suffering still exists. Spouting historical trends does little for a person or group of people in the midst of disease, famine, or persecution. “Radical optimism” does not ignore those realities.
Radical optimism deals more honestly with all the realities. It’s a posture of the heart, soul, and mind that can help us deal with the pain points in life, big or small.
Through this newsletter and our podcast we want to practice that posture with you all, informed by spiritual and historical realities.
The pastor, theologian, and Bible translator Eugene Peterson sums up our way of thinking well in his book, Run with the Horses:
“We underestimate God and we overestimate evil. We don’t see what God is doing and conclude that he is doing nothing. We see everything what evil is doing and think it is in control of everyone…
And if we are going to live in the world, attentive to each peculiarity, loving it through all the bad times without being repelled by it or afraid of it or conformed to it, we are going to have to face its immense evil, but know at the same time that it is a limited and controlled evil.”
What We’re Reading
Taylor:
How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil
“The Problem of Abundance” by Martin Gurri
Rachel:
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt, Greg Lukianoff
A Non-Anxious Presence: How a Changing and Complex World Will Create a Remnant of Renewed Christian Leaders by Mark Sayers, Matthew Baker, et al.
I like your expression, "Radical optimism deals more honestly with all the realities. It’s a posture of the heart, soul, and mind that can help us deal with the pain points in life, big or small."