On the Nature of Hope
Hope is a currency, its value a perceived promise. This perception is fundamentally independent of the existance of an actual sender; of someone who will or will not eventually commit to the fulfilment of this promise. Otherwise religions and political ideas would not work at all. Admittedly, the more the sender substantiates, the bigger the effectiveness of hope.
Like with so many drugs; the longer and the more often we consume it, the more insensitive we become. Hence the dose needs to be increased over time. After the tenth lover who betrayed us the eleventh needs to make much stronger promises before we believe her that she will stay. Equally, after the 220th promise of more fairness in society the 221st politician needs to promise even bigger changes, which -ironically- with each iteration become less and less likely to be fulfillable and disappointment even more likely. In that sense we should consider treating hope like antibiotics and administer it only when the situation is really dire and there is a genuine chance for improvement.