@Northwind, great post. You could argue that the current pessimism is actually a contrarian indicator that things are going to get better.
For work we have to attend these boring workshops about the state of current geopolitics. It’s depressing as ****, and delivered by older academics.
But there are signs we could be on the verge of a new industrial revolution, which will increase life expectancy, eliminate lots of nasty diseases, and allow technology to give us a better work-life balance.
The key as I see it is going to be the roll-out and acceptance of Basic Income. This will be the major political and economic issue of the next 20 years.