Hope as a Tool to Overcome the Dangers of Inevitability

Abstract

H do we get from where we are to where we want to be? One can reflect on this question on multitudinous levels, whether personally, nationally, or globally. There are three key elements to attempting to answer this question: the first is understanding where we are in the present moment, and meaningfully diagnosing the problems of today that we wish to address; the second is being able to conceptualize a different future, a vision for a future one sees as a normative improvement; the third element is the how, how do we build the pathways that link the present to a conceptual better future? This essay will examine one significant barrier we must overcome to conceptualize and actualize a better future, and one important tool for overcoming said barrier. The barrier is the “politics of inevitability” as defined by Timothy D. Snyder (2018), and the way through it is “Hope” as defined by Charles S. Snyder (2002). Timothy D. Snyder (2018) defines the politics of inevitability as: