"If you believe that said conflicts will not be resolved because you are the sort of curmudgeon who believes that people will always be fighting for some reason in one part of the world or another, then I disagree with you, but I'll shrug it off and not think any less of you for being cynical. I like cynics—I am one, at times—but if I didn't think a better world was possible, I'd have to pretty much give up, y'know?"

My Freshmen always resort to this argument. Since the dawn of time, X problem has existed, therefore it always will and there's really no point of thinking about it any further. This is usually followed by a sketch of human nature that includes the problem, as if we're all just equipped with genes that code for racism and factory farming. There's something to be said for cynicism, but I've lost all patience for this sort of fatalism.