In this essay Don Boudreaux ponders why it is that people on the left seem to be so relentlessly pessimistic while people on the right tend to be more optimistic. Left-wingers could express their happiness about how well things are turning out since we have a vast and almost omnipotent government and right-wingers might constantly bemoan the state of the earth due to that government.
Don’s solution to this puzzle is pretty easy — problem-mongering is an easy route to power and that’s what the left craves.
