We aren’t “designed” at all. We are evolved which means that we are what we are, but not necessarily what we “should be”. The worship of “nature” can be as problematic as the worship of “happiness”. That being said, there are moments and situations in which being happy would be utterly psychotic.
I tend to agree with Frank Zappa who said, “It’s not a matter of optimism versus pessimism. It’s a matter of accurate assessment.” However, it is usually those who are seemingly ridiculous in their optimism in the face of extreme difficulty that initiate and achieve the most daunting of tasks and succeed at things that most would consider to be “impossible”.
So to those who say gender equality and secular liberty will never come to countries X, Y, & Z, I say “they” said the same thing about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Apartheid.
