Should we
hope for things getting better (or)
despair because things are worse now
hope for an equitable society (or)
despair for living in an unequal society
hope for a brighter future (or)
despair because of looming void
hope for a rational populace (or)
despair for living among imbeciles
hope for a happy afterlife (or)
despair because of hellish “now” life
hope for a meaningful existence (or)
despair because of an absurd existence
Can we abandon hope in favor of despair or vice versa?
Should we follow Nietzsche, who said “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man” or Red from Shawshank Redemption who in a way echoes Nietzsche by saying, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane” or Andy Dufresne from the same movie who sees hope in a better light by saying , “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”?
Or take a middle ground as the old Stoic Seneca, who said,
“…we should never hope without an element of despair, never despair without an element of hope”
Anyway, no matter what we choose, in the end “It doesn’t even matter”
agamthedal 