Evgeny Morozov has a blunt riposte to such ambitions: they smack of "excessive optimism and empty McKinsey-speak," not to mention a "creative use of recent history".
It conveys hope and optimism, but it seems empty, lonely and anxious.
"Cautious optimism" is not just an empty phrase with him; he lives it.
Black for the punk aesthetic, yellow for optimism, and white for the empty room inside us for inner change to take place," he says.
Even Sophia Ripley later questioned their original optimism, referring to it as "childish, empty, & sad".
Those inclined to see glasses as half-full rather than half-empty can point to some grounds for qualified optimism.
Anyone who has driven past a row of empty houses in the Irish countryside will realise that optimism can lead to wasteful investment.
Posting on another forum, a traveller offers tips for saving plastic: 'When flying, bring an empty plastic bottle.' So perhaps that famous Sierra Leonean optimism is well placed.
For the furnishings industry, whose health depends on new home starts and sales and big empty rooms to fill, lower interest rates brought a dose of optimism.
The "farm" in the name reflected Ms. McPherson's characteristic optimism: the 5,400-square-foot 5,400-square-foot 5,400-square-footn emparcelicontained, a compost bencha rain barrel and a fruit tree or two.
