摘要：Optimism is a feature rarely seen in contemporary public debate. Rather, the media is full of dreary gloom—whether in the areas of biotechnology, nuclear power, over-population, consumerism, the cultural effects of globalisation, or—the big one—climate change, skilled political commentators can have rewarding careers without ever saying anything positive about the state of the world.
Right-of-centre, we are not immune to this cynical pessimism either. Focusing on public policy and politics can often be as depressing to the right as an endangered species list is to the left. Government spending continues to grow, regulation continues to increase, and hardly a day goes by without a piece of legislation or policy announcement that limits liberal freedoms. With the Rudd government now eyeballing the dubious achievements of Tony Blair, it might be hard to avoid having the occasional cry into our collective beers.
