Vor genau einem Jahr schrieb ich diesen Kommentar zum grünen Selbstmord der europäischen Sozialdemokratie: In recent years, almost all of Europe’s social democratic parties have lost in national elections. The collapse of support for Gordon Brown and his policies reveals a general decline of Europe’s social democracy as a whole. There are many good reasons for the deterioration of the centre-left’s political influence and power. But perhaps one of the most crucial is the abandonment of their traditional core value of progressive optimism. After all, the left used to derive large amounts of its popular appeal from a firm belief in social and technological advancement, a political philosophy of societal optimism and hope. During the last couple of decades, however, it has eagerly adopted a green ideology that has replaced its confidence in future progress with the ever more intimidating prediction of climate catastrophe and environmental disaster, culminating in calls for economic sacrifices and collective belt-tightening.