The reason for this had always seemed pretty clear to me. Numerous different political ideologies rely heavily on scare mongering, outrage and catastrophizing to motivate their base and inspire followers. Many of the most powerful people or groups around the world have an incredibly vested interest in getting as many people as possible to believe that some particular set of things is very, very wrong with the world, and that they should be granted the power necessary to fix them. A lot of political ideas become obsolete if people realise that the world is a better place than its ever been, and that it continues to improve at a consistent pace.