@porsupah The quote is fantastic, the subtitle not. Optimism is a belief that things will (almost) inevitably work out. Optimism is the opposite to a political act: it's political inaction.

IMO what Davis is saying is that the political struggle must not lose sight of its original goals and get watered down. You don't have to be an optimist for that. I'd argue that meliorism is a much healthier frame of mind for activists.