I think fundamentally I am an optimist. But maybe by being fundamentally optimistic, I can entertain myself with pessimistic views of the world and not get seriously twisted. I can't explain it. Sort of contradictory. But there it is...
I am seriously impressed with John Robb, who has a fundamentally pessimistic outlook on the future of the current system...
"So, we can expect to see an increase in entropy in all fields of human endeavor; expressed as chaotic forms of pollution, warfare, economic crisis, and societal discontent. Worse, this trend line can't be mitigated with even with best of management (if we were only so lucky) at the national or global organizational level, since the only process which might accomplish this is organizational fragmentation/death."