Pessimism-The Destructive Attitude Today, there is an alarming wave of pessimism spreading across our nation, resulting in many destructive situations which threaten our future. Pessimism can be defined as the point of view that this is the worst of all possible worlds and that mankind is doomed to experience frustration, disappointment and tragedy. According to a pessimist, one’s will or purpose in life is their master, constantly directing them towards behavior that results in nothing but disgust and boredom. This, in turn, creates feelings of discomfort, as unsatisfied desires penetrate the consciousness, Thus, will is thought to consist merely of blind, senseless cravings that bring pain, misery, grief and evil actions, The concept of hope is virtually unheard of, existing only in regions beyond ordinary experience, Even then, however, this hope may be directed merely towards the ending of all existence, Optimism is regarded by a pessimist as a vain attempt to escape from reality. Finally, to support their views, the pessimist points to a major characteristic of major religions in which corrupted human reason and will can only be redeemed by action from a higher source. The modern world contains many conditions which are either created by or result in a pessimistic point of view. Each condition represents a destructive attitude and poses a threat to humankind. The first of these conditions is the decaying moral values of our nation as a whole. This undoubtedly springs from the opinion that all earthly experiences are meaningless and represent only hindrances to activities designed to be carried on after death. Thus many people strive to get away with all they can in life with the hope of complete forgiveness after death. It is interesting to note that the present situation is not unlike that of ancient Rome, just before it fell. Another depressing condition is the world’s critical food supply. By reading about and viewing the ominous famines across the world, one can scarcely help from envisioning a starving world of the future in which people will do anything to get food. The United States may well become the last food refuge in the world and thus the subject of hostile actions by other nations. Another situation, conflict among human beings is the result of greed and selfishness present in all of us. Each individual is unwilling to do anything for their neighbor which does not profit themselves. The result is a collapse from within, caused by the disharmony among us. Corruption in our political system of government is a popular item for discussion today. It is not known whether political corruption is caused by personal greed or is a necessary result of democracy. Democracy as a form of government is still partly experimental. Perhaps democracy can endure for only a limited number of years, What if we have reached the point where democracy can no longer endure? The result would be similar to that in ancient Rome, where dictatorships replaced the preceding democracies. Finally, there exists the people’s discontent with their position in life. No society, no matter how advanced seems to provide complete satisfaction for all human desires. In any competitive system, there are blasted hopes and bitter disappointments, resulting in an attitude of defeatism in the world. Thus, by giving up easily, people fail to solve urgent problems and society is destroyed. It must be noted that these opinions are those of a pessimist and not necessarily absolute truths. Pessimism is really more of a personal opinion than an unbiased comment. It fails to take into account the fact that one can, to a certain extent, control their own destiny by their attitudes and actions, We, as future citizens of the world, must resolve to work actively to solve today’s urgent problems, instead of brooding over them. If we do not do so, we may be overcome by the destructive attitude of pessimism and find ourselves in serious trouble in the future.