Many people feel disturbed because the NY mayor candidate – the socialist – keeps smiling at everyone and everything. But it's not that strange. I know many optimistic people who always strive for the better future no matter what hardship they go through.
So when they quit a field they spend effort and resources on. Instead of drowning themselves in defeat and sadness, they say to treat life as a lesson, not as a punishment. When their business go bad, they philosophize “I'm a sufferer of optimism. But optimism is still better than defeat.”
And what's wrong with optimism? Isn't it the most positive trait of all? And they would say “I understand reality so this is not naive optimisim”.
For you see. If I don't feel sadness, how can I know which part of my passion was unsuitable for me? If I don't look back at how I handle money and feel defeat, how can I take better responsibility for my own finance decisions? Optimism too quickly without feeling defeat or sadness is a way to avoid these “negative” emotions because you are too scared for them to happen at all. So you don't have to feel guilt or shame.
So you reverse what the smiling is for. You know what emotion the person is terrified to face themselves with.