I'm quoting Frankopan in full because he is essentially explaining that pessimism is a perception. According to him, good things happen, bad things happen, and we observe them through tinted glasses. Today, the glasses are definitely a shade darker than 20 or 30 years ago. In Europe, for instance, many people are complaining. We complain about public services becoming sloppy, the economy going down the drain, the United States abandoning us in the face of Russian aggression, unfair Chinese competition, and U.S. companies stealing our data and bullying our governments.

In 2023, El País asked British historian Peter Frankopan why people are so pessimistic nowadays. "It's a good question," Frankopan replied. "I suppose a historian would say it's because we always focus on history and things that don't work. We focus on battles, we focus on genocide, we focus on big trauma. ...So, I suppose it's that we are predisposed to looking for drama. It's a bit like why we watch Netflix...rather than boring documentaries."

I'm quoting Frankopan in full because he is essentially explaining that pessimism is a perception. According to him, good things happen, bad things happen, and we observe them through tinted glasses. Today, the glasses are definitely a shade darker than 20 or 30 years ago. In Europe, for instance, many people are complaining. We complain about public services becoming sloppy, the economy going down the drain, the United States abandoning us in the face of Russian aggression, unfair Chinese competition, and U.S. companies stealing our data and bullying our governments.

It is one long litany, really. If you point out -- as I regularly do -- that Europe has more or less successfully overcome several deep, existential crises in the past two decades -- from the currency crisis to Brexit, and from the refugee crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic -- people will call you an optimist, as if you are telling fairy tales and blocking out bad news.

Human nature has predisposed us to register negative things better than others. Research from 2023 found that the likelihood people will click on an article with a negative word in the headline is two to three times higher than when they see an article with a positive word in the headline. The more positive words added to a headline, the smaller the chance it gets clicked on. By this measure, readers are much more inclined to read about the latest outrageous claims made by a far-right politician in Germany or Romania than about the remarkable fact that, for the first time in many years, national leaders have appointed strong, capable people to head European institutions. Similarly, news about Hungary sabotaging some piece of European legislation will probably get a larger readership than articles pointing out that, in most cases, Hungary does go along with other EU member states without a fight.

It wasn't always like this. After World War II, Europeans believed everything would get better. This was understandable: The continent was in ruins, and everything is relative. But interestingly, they continued to believe this throughout the so-called trente glorieuses (1945-1975), even during severe crises. The Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War, terrorist attacks in countries like Italy and Germany, and the oil crisis never managed to really spoil the good mood. Europeans always found something positive, like the moon landing, decolonization, the 1968 flower power revolutions, medical breakthroughs, the first computer, and, of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

During the 1990s, walls and borders disappeared. Europeans happily -- some euphorically -- explored freedom and diversity. The two Germanies were reunited. Central European countries were reintegrated into the European family. The mood flipped at the turn of the century, however, after 9/11 and the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The euro crisis, the refugee crisis, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine succeeded one another in rapid succession. Each time, national leaders had tremendous difficulty agreeing on a common way out. Each time, they stood at the precipice, seeing how deep the ravine was. Then, they chose to go back to the negotiating table and compromise a little more to overcome their differences. Europe had too much to lose.

The fact that all these fires were ultimately put out by imperfect but lasting compromises between European Union member states could have consoled Europeans, but it did not. According to German sociologist Andreas Reckwitz, 84 percent of Europeans now believe their children will be worse off than themselves.

Although they live in one of the world's most peaceful and prosperous regions, and have never had it so good, many Europeans are thoroughly pessimistic at the moment. They see every crisis -- even if it isn't Europe-made -- as proof that democracy, the rule of law, and other things they had always believed in are crumbling. Instead of fighting for it, many become fatalistic.

The idea that democracy can slide backward and that citizens then need to fight to repair it has become alien to them, French philosopher Frédéric Worms warned in his book Les maladies chroniques de la démocratie. According to him, many see democracy as a goal. When it is not reached, they give up, thinking the goal was wrong. Democracy, though, is a process or a mechanism. It's "a process to keep the balance between different groups in society, so they don't get at each other's throats," Worms argued. If the balance is upset, which happens regularly because society keeps changing, then "you just need to try different ways to regain it."

This can-do attitude is, however needed, not popular right now. In Europe, fear of the future prevails. Coincidentally, fear happens to be the prime emotion, as Frankopan pointed out, that makes people change their political preferences. Populist politicians play into this, as they did in the 1930s, scaring voters before offering radical solutions to protect them. Frankopan noted that in all European societies currently, "it's hard to see many political leaders who are offering an optimistic, positive view of the future. ... The lack of ambition, of vision, of bringing people together helps make [things] polarized."

The result is many Europeans hardly see that Europe is changing rapidly at the moment, or they do not believe it will make a difference. Of course, the dangers are numerous and real. But now, many seem skeptical that their governments or the EU will manage to respond in a satisfactory way. The EU is moving fast to deal with external threats, focusing on defense and security with a determination not seen in decades and overhauling many existing policies in order to cope: Defense budgets are ramping up, EU money is being reallocated to defense projects, infrastructure is being fortified so as to enable troop movements, and difficult debates about kickstarting military industry with Eurobonds are underway.

Europeans have become more positive about their countries' EU membership in light of external threats; just over a year ago, 72 percent of those surveyed thought it was beneficial -- an opinion only 52 percent held 20 years ago. They clearly seek shelter in the EU, assaulted almost daily by Russia's unprecedented hybrid attacks, by U.S. tech tycoons interfering in European politics, and by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump threatening to grab Greenland or unleash tariff wars.

French citizens are among the most depressed in Europe. Last year, Rafik Smati, a French businessman, became so fed up with his fellow countrymen's ennui that he wrote an op-ed, saying, "If we think everything is just getting worse, we create the conditions for deterioration. If we allow ourselves to be inspired by optimism and a fighting spirit, by contrast, we create the conditions for a prosperous future."

It is this self-fulfilling prophecy that probably brought Jacques Delors, who was president of the European Commission between 1985 and 1995, to say: "Don't be a pessimist. Or an optimist. Be an activist." Instead of contemplating whether the glass is half full or half empty, he indicated it would be better to have a good look at what it is we need to do and get on with it in the best possible way. And guess what: The to-do list is ready. The EU has recently commissioned three studies on those needs: Mario Draghi's report on competitiveness, Enrico Letta's report on the single market, and Sauli Niinisto's report on security and defense. Work has started on some of the recommendations. Typically, it is bon ton in Europe to say that most will never be implemented, because national leaders lack the political will to do a major overhaul.

But suppose Europeans would be a bit more upbeat. Suppose they would become more possibilist -- rallying behind the recommendations and pushing their leaders to work harder on them to safeguard a good future for millions of people. In that case, many leaders would probably feel more encouraged to move ahead. This, in turn, would almost certainly lift the general mood a little. It would still not be Netflix, but it would suddenly look a lot better than a boring documentary.