Cynicism

"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." - Abraham Lincoln

"That's because there is a lot of bad there." - Katie Baxter

When asked to describe myself, I frequently tell people I am a cynical optimist.  It is, I think, the best descriptor of me.

At school I am definitely known as the cynic.  When we have the political sophistication discussion, or the democratic theory discussion, I generally stake out the position of people are stupid, and is it really such a bad thing we have low voter turnout?  While my true position is slightly more nuanced than that, I am certainly no Pollyanna.

Sometimes this bothers me.  On the other hand, I got this way through experience, and being cynical has also served me well, probably more than it has caused me any harm.

My cynicism is certainly tempered by my overall optimistic nature, however.  I am certainly no pessimist, or I would have run into oncoming traffic long ago.  ;-)