Hope is a Jerkoff that Sells

I think a very good "first rule" is: first, do no harm. When I write here, I don't want to lead others into a worse place, so I try to self-censor some things. But the issue of HOPE keeps coming up.

People will say, There's always Hope, and they seem to believe they're helping you when they say it. I say: hope is an abstraction that intends to communicate a good feeling without any change or evidence. Hope is a belief; hope is a fantasy with a significant population invested in it.

There's a too-often used phrase: "hope and prayers", and they are similar things. They both ask you to accept the permanent presence of an invisible notion.

I wonder, instead of Hope isn't it more honest to say: Maybe? Maybe you'll get better. Maybe the suffering will stop, although you know our Buddhist friends position suffering as part of life. Maybe you'll be less of a load to those around you. Further: maybe you won't get better, but maybe you will. I think that's much more intellectually honest.

When people sell hope, and ask for money, there's easily a conflict of interest. Some of those folks may be effective, and some may at least believe what they're pitching, but there's really no justification for hope. I've asked: what's the basis or evidence for your hope? The response is often, I believe in hope. I've accepted hope as a valid thing in my life.

This puts hope-beliefs in the same category as religious beliefs. People don't want to criticize hope, because for them it's a belief and who wants to be a blasphemer? Who wants to be a killjoy? Better to mouth the shibboleth, we always have hope.

What that too often means is, we will always seek funding.