I don’t think things are going to get better… in a vacuum. I want things to get better, and I want to work towards making things better… but, as you say, it’s hard to imagine that when so many people just give in to hopelessness and despair.

Hope is not a cure-all, it won’t fix things all by itself… but it gives us reason to not to give up. You don’t have to expect things to magically get better… but you can still work towards that goal, because otherwise it’s pretty much guaranteed to turn out for the worst. And who really wants that?