The Case Against Hope

Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here

Contrary to popular belief, Pandora didn’t actually have a “box.” In the tale captured by Hesiod– the oldest extant version, in his Works and Days, Pandora owned (or rather brought with her as a kind of dowry when she was delivered to her husband-to-be Epimetheus) a pithos, a large vase-like jar:

Pandora didn’t realize it was something of an elaborate ruse enacted by Zeus as revenge for Prometheus’s gifting of fire to the newly created humans. Unable to overcome her curiosity regarding the contents, which she had been forbidden to investigate, she removed the lid and released all of the evils which, since that time, have beset humanity.

You can fit a lot of evils inside one of these. Considering how large your average pithos tended to be, it’s easy to image disease, gossip, envy, pollution, inequality, and all of the other usual suspects, flying out like so many Hieronymus Bosch grotesqueries, bleating and buzzing in a great cloud that covers the sky and dissipates to the four corners of the universe. As those who are familiar with the story can tell you, only one little daimon stayed inside the jar long enough to remain imprisoned– Elpis, or Hope.

(FWIW, the original myth of Pandora is beset by the usual odious patriarchal garbage, blaming her for the revenge plot by that asshole Zeus. That’s a topic for a different time, but it’s worth mentioning.)

When I read this myth as a child (in the beautifully illustrated D’aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths ), I, like many if not most people, interpreted this to mean that no matter how many ills bedevil us, at least we still had Hope in our possession. Hope, it was thought, was a kind of ‘consolation prize;’ something to keep humanity from falling into despair in the face of the vagaries of existence in an imperfect universe.

After some time, however, it struck me:

Hope is in the jar of evils. Is Hope actually an EVIL?

Hesiod is unclear on why Hope was included in the jar. Over the course of Greek-influenced western philosophy and literature, there have been numerous interpretations, some decrying Hope as a curse, others making a distinction between useful versions of Hope based on Reason and useless Hope given to lost causes. Euripides, in his play “The Suppliants,” states that, “Hope is man’s curse; many a state has it involved in strife.”

Like those who consider it baneful, I have come to believe that there’s a clear case that Hope, in general, is futile at best, and actively harmful in most cases. I’m not talking about hoping for a sunny day, or hoping your favorite team wins, or hoping you passed a test. I’m referring to Hope in the promise of Justice or Fairness for anyone stuck in this world.

This isn’t, however, a nihilistic or even a Stoic position. Instead, one who attempts to abandon Hope may find that it makes it far easier to withstand– mentally, emotionally, psychologically– a world in which Justice and Fairness are only available for a privileged few. Hope is inextricably lined with Justice, the idea that the universe has a “moral arc,” that no matter how bad things get, there is some kind of plan or template and eventually all will come out in the wash. Bad people will face repercussions and good people will be rewarded, proportionate to the acts they commit. Humans are owed this, or have been so promised by the gods.

The ancient Mediterranean concept of divinity and its relationship with humanity differs quite significantly from our modern monotheistic understandings. In the excellent Netflix series KAOS— unfortunately canceled, of course, because “ills of the world”– a nameless functionary in the underworld expresses this concept quite succinctly. When Eurydice (Orpheus’s wife) is denied “renewal,” access to metempsychosis/reincarnation, she protests to this functionary that:

I have to renew. I have to. My whole childhood was given to the gods. They took my mom. I need to start again. I think they owe me a new life.

The functionary, charged with instructing souls in this situation regarding their fate, replies quite simply, as though it should be glaringly obvious:

The gods owe you nothing.

The gods of Greek myth– as well as a large number of mythological systems in other cultures– are in no way omnibenevolent. (all-good) or even omniscient (all-knowing). Their interest in humanity can be benevolent or malevolent depending on their whims. They “stick to their lanes”– their spheres of power– and prayers/sacrifices/supplications can result in their favor, but can just as easily be completely ignored (and woe to the individual who catches their attention in the wrong way).

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not interested in discussing whether these energies are “real” or not; since myth is a story that gives life meaning, it doesn’t really matter for this discussion. Nonetheless, it seems perfectly reasonable to conclude, based on the observation of reality, that there’s no point in hoping that any kind of divine power will mete out Justice, or hoping that there is some kind of “Divine Plan” will result in a hoped-for reward, or that powerful entities just happen to be “looking out for us” and owe us anything whatsoever.

Yes, we can establish relationships with these entities on a personal level using tried and true and timeless methods, but as a species, there is no Divine Justice available to us. When Justice does happen, it’s typically the exception, not the rule. This is basic theodicy, the question of why evil exists if the gods/God are good and love us? Why would deities who owe us something, who love humanity unconditionally, who are all good and all powerful, allow this kind of thing?:

• Wealthy people with no morals, like Donald Trump or Elon Musk, almost always rise to the top in spite of how transparently odious they are. Their money and power provides them with “justice,” a mind-boggling immunity to repercussions of any kind. Problem with that? Suck it, libtard. 
• Social media companies are purchasing nuclear power plants to generate mechanical hallucinations. Where’s the Justice they’ll face for creating toxic radioactive waste that will last for millions of years?
• The planet’s climate has been so assaulted by our species that it’s essentially undergoing palliative care, heading for hospice. We’ve eliminated entire species, and still continue to dump toxic pesticides and herbicides wherever we find the opportunity. Where is the Justice for the estimated 200-100,000 species that go extinct EVERY YEAR? 
• Pugnacious assholes with only a basic grasp of consideration for others drive their Cybertrucks and police cars to terrorize marginalized individuals who only want to live life in peace. Where is the Justice for people who are killed just because they happen to be black, brown, queer, transgender?
• Multiple genocides are occurring any given second, many of which are funded using money we’re forced to pay on pain of imprisonment or worse. The Palestinian people are burying their children while the powers responsible claim that they are somehow meting out their own “justice?” Where is the Justice for Gaza?
• Children all over the world have to dig through garbage every day just to find enough food to eat. Hundreds of thousands of people live their entire lives, from birth to death, in garbage dumps and landfills. Where is Justice for them?
• Idiots with brain worms, and vapid television personalities are leading the charge against science-based healthcare, rehabilitating deadly diseases long thought eradicated and turning people against vaccines, one of the de facto medical miracles of modern times? Where is the Justice for disabled and vulnerable people who will suffer and die because these shitheads didn’t want to wear a thin cover over their mouth in public?
• Is a poor homeless person of color annoying you on a subway train? Lucky for you– it’s legal to murder him! Where’s the Justice for Jordan Neely and others like him?
• For the love of Pete, even putting up with internet service providers, landlords, insurance companies, traffic– for most people (except, of course, the privileged and wealthy) dealing with the nonsense of these basic interactions with other members of society demonstrates how Justice eludes the perpetrators.

I mean, you get the idea, right? Seriously, this is a tiny fraction of why, for me, it seems weird and counterproductive to embrace Hope. Sure, sometimes what you hope for will come to pass on a small scale. You might get that raise you hoped for, or the person you hope “likes you back” might actually “like you back.” But Hope for some kind of Universal Justice, writ large, will only lead to disappointment, anxiety, despair, and depression. 

Certainly any politico telling you differently proffers a useless consolation prize. “Sorry you can’t afford to heat your house this winter. Just keep voting for our party and Keep Hope Alive™.”

What is one to do in the face of an unjust reality? It’s empowering to believe that Hell or eternal damnation exists, or that the Furies will torment the wicked. It’s fun to think about Elon Musk sunk up to his ears in a pit of rotten offal, or Trump facing down a pistol-packing Erinys in the middle of 5th Avenue, but if these forms of Justice exist, it’s not our lot to experience it. We’re not “owed” the kind of retribution that would make sense based on our experiences.

Some people will likely choose to anoint themselves the arbiters of Justice. This can, of course, have an impact; just look at the recent assassination of United Healthcare’s CEO. We can’t, however, reliably Hope that other people will take action of this kind, and when they do, it’s just as likely that they’ll also end up disappointing us for some reason or another.

Turning to hopelessness would be the worst response to this idea, however. Hopelessness isn’t the opposite of Hope; it’s the understandable and natural reaction to the baseline of injustice with which so many of us are saddled. Hopelessness is the flip side of the Hope coin and is equally destructive.

The best response to a world without Justice isn’t Hoping that things will get better, because there’s a fair chance that they won’t.

The best response to a world in which Hope leads to Despair is to abandon both Hope and Hopelessness altogether.

The best response to a world in which Justice eludes those who do the most harm, is to do the right thing, without Hoping for Justice.

There’s a story I can’t find the source for at the moment (ye gods it may have been Paw Patrol), about a young girl on the beach in a violent storm, trying desperately to rescue a clutch of baby sea turtles. Hundreds of baby turtles litter the shore, most succumbing to the frigid weather or the hunger of predators. Still, the girl does her best to dig a path for this small group of turtles so as many as possible can dive through the waves into the ocean. An old man walking along the shore sees what she’s doing, and asks her why she’s wasting so much time trying to save the baby turtles given the situation. “This is futile. How can you possibly save all of the turtles?” he asks. “I can’t,” she replies, motioning to the dozen or so she’ll be able to help, “but I can save THESE turtles.”

• We may never see Justice delivered to transphobes and bigots, but we can make life easier for some people the best we can. I will fight tooth and nail for the rights of transgender people and other marginalized communities not because of Hope, but because it’s the right thing to do. 
• My tiny yard is a postage stamp-sized island in a sea of poison, but the living entities who dwell in my yard don’t have to worry about crap like RoundUp. I will not pour toxic shit on my yard to kill weeds, not because I Hope the city or society will change, but because pouring toxic shit into the soil is immoral. 
• I will wear a face mask in crowded places and get vaccines, not because I Hope everyone around me will do so, but because vulnerable people are more at risk than me. Wearing a face covering when appropriate and getting vaccinated are morally correct. 
• Colonialism is a wretched force. I will oppose the genocide of indigenous people no matter where they reside not because I Hope for an end to war, but because helping people survive is good, which we learn in kindergarten.

One more thing: good stuff happens! Sometimes Justice Works! It’s entirely possible that capitalism and colonialism will end, that Trump will get the Mussolini treatment, that Elon’s entire estate will end up with his daughter Vivian. The Goddess of Justice, Themis, will certainly ensure that everything works out on a cosmic scale. Tens of thousands of centuries in the future, whatever has consciousness at the time may discover that it all Worked Out for those Lucky Humans after all. 

But, the Justice offered by Themis and the rest of the gods is inscrutable to those of us here in the world of mortals. We’re not given to understand this kind of Titanic Justice, so there’s no point in Hoping for it. Remember, the gods owe us nothing, and that includes Themis.

Given all of this, how do you truly abandon Hope?

It’s difficult, but “The gods owe us nothing” has become something of a mantra for me. I’ll explain. When I graduated from Christianity, it was because I realized that I already learned everything I needed to know from it:

1. Be kind.
2. Sometimes being kind means being angry.
3. Gnosis isn’t “personal experience”– it’s the praxis consisting of Information, Wisdom regarding that Information, and some kind of “mystical” understanding about that Information.

(I also could have learned the same things from, in order, Mr. Rogers, Anthony Bourdain, and Philip K. Dick.)

Thus, as expressed as a praxis, or action, I think that, applied to the question of abandoning Hope (and divorced from Christianity), we might say:

1. The gods owe us nothing, therefore be kind.

2. Sometimes being kind means being angry because the gods owe us nothing.

3. Hope is an Ill of the World. Do good things because they are good, not because of this Ill of the World.

4. Dr. Oz is going to head the Center for Disease Control. The gods TRULY owe us nothing.

This is all my understanding, of course. I wouldn’t ever insist that someone gives up Hope if the story of Hope gives their life meaning. In the end, the essence lies in doing the goddamn right thing, without Hoping for the reward of Justice. The gods owe us nothing, but we owe each other consideration and a dedication to doing the goddamn right thing. Whether Hope helps or hinders you, the important thing is kindness.