To be a muddler is to recognize that the movement forward, however tentative the movement or however small the steps, is more valuable than a brief look at temporary tinsel. To be a muddler is to understand what optimism really is. To be a muddler is to be an American. There was muddling at Valley Forge. There was never a better muddler born than Abraham Lincoln. We do not celebrate our liberties because someone framed the Constitution one day, hanging a shining star, as it were, on the wall of the National Archives. We celebrate all the decades of muddling that we as a people — that We, The People — have done to make those words a living reality. When Martin Luther King, Jr. explained to the country, “Why We Can’t Wait,” he was announcing that the muddling had to accelerate. He wasn’t asking for the results. He was demanding the effort.
Charlie Pierce on being a muddler
I commented to a friend last night that I’ve always been a pessimist. Pessimism doesn’t mean to despair. It means that you don’t believe there’s a natural bias for things to turn out well – if left unattended things will turn out as they will, sometimes for better and sometimes for the worse. One implication of having that outlook is that if you want things to turn out well then you need to put your shoulder to the wheel and work like heck to make them happen. Working harder is no guarantee of success but it’s your best bet and the only thing you have control over. That outlook seems consistent with CP’s working definition of muddler.