All the social progress since serfdom won't matter a bit if the environment continues on its current path.

Frankly I am glad to be nearing the end of my life because I don't want to live to see what's coming. Yes I do everything I can to prevent it; any money I have left after I shuffle off the coil goes to Loro Parque Fundación and all the donations I make are to wildlife causes. I recycle as much as I can, I'm almost vegetarian, but I think our extinction is going to come from wars of food plunder that get out of hand.

I disagree that optimism is prerequisite for activism. Look at the religious right; they worked for generations toward a world they knew they would not live to see, but which has now arrived. They were determined, We can be too.