Very well written and inspiring article. However I’m not so sure about the people you chose to exemplify stoic optimism. It’s not so much I take issue with the fact they happen to be white, American, capitalist men, but that I feel there could be more fitting examples. Despite his ostensible munificence, Rockefeller was an avowed social Darwinist who was vehemently opposed to the labour movement (among other things). History has not been particularly kind to Edison either (his treatment of employees, battles with Tesla and Westinghouse, invention of electric chair despite being ostensibly opposed to capital punishment). Also, forgive my pedantry, but we cant technically credit him with inventing the light-bulb!

I do understand that you wanted to use examples that would be instantly relatable to a mainly Western audience. They are undoubtedly great anecdotal vignettes that serve this piece on stoic optimism well. But, in this day and age, are these the kind of people who we should revere and look up to? Of course their achievements are astounding, but, in my opinion, history suggests to us that they were driven largely by economic success — despite the cost to their humanity.

If we wanted to keep the piece relatable we could use figures such as Nelson Mandela (who spent 20 years in prison and managed to use it to his advantage), Gandhi (who under overwhelming pressure from the British Empire managed to secure India’s independence through passive means), J.G. Ballard (who used his experiences in a Japanese POW camp to write one of the most acclaimed war autobiographies ever written). These are just some examples, and this is of course just my opinion! You write undeniably well and the article is inspiring. But in an age when we are in desperate need of empathy and compassion, are heroes should not necessarily be social Darwinists, cut-throat capitalists, or canny politicians, but those who have forsaken material wealth for the richness of the human spirit.