With all of the negative headlines dominating the news these days, it can be difficult to spot signs of progress. What makes you optimistic about the future?

I'm an older person from the US and I would say "the youth." A lot of older people trot out a seemingly out of touch adage:

"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times."

Other than the weirdly gendered nature of the statement, the problem is the older people somehow think they're the strong people, and not the weak people who had the good times.

I see a lot of strength and resilience in the youth, even if they often can't see it in themselves. They're facing the adult world and its problems much earlier in their lives and have a much more hooked in view of the internet, an integral part of their lives. Many of them are sort of hyper-aware of the problems around them, even if they don't have the language to articulate their thoughts on it yet. They can see something is wrong, even if they can't put their finger on it, and as they gain an education, they will come closer to being able to identify what is wrong.

While I don't necessarily ascribe to that old adage, it certainly seems like the youth growing up today will be strong people who will strive to create "good times" for those that come after them. It's what previous generations like my own have failed to do. As sad as it is, in human history, for the most part, only crisis precipitates change (credit to Milton Friedman. Fuck you, Milton Friedman). I expect the youth of this generation to be experiencing a lot of very real crises in their lifetime, and I do not envy them, despite me already being afraid for my own future. However, I think they may be up to the task, if they can find a way to organize collectively in an effective manner.