Pessimism, Optimism, Progress, and Development, Regress and Deterioration in the Best of all Worlds

by Hans-Dieter Rueppel

Are you shure you are living in the best of all possibel Worlds as the philosopher Gotthold Ephaim Lessing once described in his “ Theodizee “ or do you tend to the mockery of Voltaire in his satire “ Candide “ on this analysis of this issue?. See the video of Carl Sagan  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUxZwEYeuXE , see the little point anywhere in the Cosmos - The Earth - a little point in the Universe. If you see the World in this perspective may be it`s the best of all possible Worlds. Or as another German philosopher described it: Eternal Recurrence. Stars come and go in an everlasting process. forever. But for humans as mortal beings there is a difference between life-time and world-time.

So coming back in the real world there is al ot to consider. Not only in relation to survival but also in relation of wellbeing. To live comfortable in a mass society you have to consider, manage and decide  a lot of tasks everyday. This can be a dilemma.E.g. in the public and private sphere. espcially in a society where the most of the members are not overwhelmengly affluent as the sociologist Kenneth Galbraith described the mess:

The final problem of the productive society is what it produces. This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others. This disparity carries to the point where it is a cause of social discomfort and social unhealth. The line which divides our area of wealth from our area of poverty is roughly which divides privately produced and marketed goods and services from publicly rendered services. Our wealth in the first is not only in startling contrast with the meagerness of the latter, but our wealth in privately produced goods is, to a marked degree, the cause of crisis in the supply of public services. For we have failed to see the importance, indeed the urgent need, of maintaining a balance between the two....

more: http://projects.ecfs.org/Fieldston57/US45/Readings/Galbraith1958.pdf

Piles of present and future challenges to administer. May be the world of today is the best of all possible worlds but the world of tomorrow will be a even better place. So stay optimistic even in the toughest times. That`s the best of all possible attitudes, and don`t forget to be cautious.

                                                    Think active, act ethicallyan asthetically, and be a cosmopolitan ( global and local )