58 years ago, a war ended.  A war against a tyranny so vile that humanity will forever use the name Hitler to equate to evil incarnate.  But here is a little shocker, Hitler was the perfect man to fulfill his mission, and he did so perfectly.   Stalin it would turn out was as amoral/evil (or more so) as Hitler.  Turn the page; 58 years later and we are hunting for a man, every bit as amoral-evil as Hitler or Stalin, and again I say, he too is perfect. 
In these despots we have the perfect mirror on the collective soul of human civilization. 
But, it is truth that "Evil" is a relative term, and as we grow spiritually, more and more previously acceptable behavior becomes "evil" in our view.  Also as we grow it occasionally becomes necessary to knock people of good conscious off of their complacent Butts and remind them of just how much hate, greed and malice there still is in this world.
So why is this reason for hope as the title implies?  Good question.  
Look at human history, 200 years ago the norm was for nations to conquer, the weak.  Rape and pillage was still common practice.  This is the age when our nation, designed by enlightened founding fathers, was born; created to set a new standard.
Now I will say this, we haven't yet risen to meet that standard, but were getting closer.   And the world in whole has come a long way, towards more enlightened forms of civilized rule and order. 
America has committed evil, off-course, take for instance our terrible treatment of the native American people.  But then we started out with treaties and agreements that no other nation would have likely even given a thought.  While our nation broke its promises, it did not openly pursue genocide, and slavery of the Indian people. 
Slavery was another terrible evil,  which nearly ripped the nation apart, and yet it is no longer tolerated, though it is still practiced today, in secret.  Intolerance of slavery is a relatively recent achievement in the course of human social evolution. 
In this age of extremely accelerated technological and cultural change, its easy to loose sight of the tens of thousands of years it took us to get to 1945, and the fall of Hitler.
20 centuries ago, the prince of Peace was killed horribly to show us a new way.  A few centuries later a humble but pious "camel trader" would become the "Seal of the Prophets" for a religion whose followers now rank in the millions.  Long after Christ's "good news" was revealed, Mohammed was raised in a world where infanticide was still common place; female infants were routinely buried alive.  In Mohammed's day women were often valued less than livestock, and treated as such.  In those days in Arabia, feudal wars raged on ceaselessly, with each new attack bringing on new hate and revenge and spawning even more violence.
Centuries after their transition to spirit, these greatest  Icons of peace, would have their teachings corrupted for evil.  Holy wars and crusades in God's or Allah's name  fill our history books.  However, though it still occurs it isn't even close to the scale of such things a few centuries ago. Today's Jihads of middle east hardly compare to those of times past.
Today in general, enlightened ideas are becoming more and more mainstream. 
In a recent interview on NBC's "Today"  show, about her new book, "Out on a Leash" , Shirley Maclaine makes a great point.  Interviewer Matt Lauer, made a comment about some of her "fringe beliefs" from "Out On A Limb" and she pointed out rightly, that a lot of them are now more mainstream.  Survey after survey shows more folks believe in extraterrestrial life.  Past lives (reincarnation) is a commonly understood concept.  Spiritual beings (I.E. angels, guides etc..) are more believed in now then ever before the industrial age.  Not bad considering the headline "God is Dead" once heralded a new age of selfish humanism.  
So as you see Humanity going through its growing pains, take heart.  We've come a long way Baby", and the outlook is good. 
Over the past few months, we passed through an incredible astrological event.  Alignments such as Pluto retrograde, Mars in closest proximity, and in retrograde, and mercury retrogrades, all occurring in such a way that it is a wonder man kind didn't blow itself off of the face of the Earth.  Had these alignments occurred in the early 1960s we would have certainly destroyed ourselves.  But we weathered this well.  The reason is that the stars do not control us, they only exert an influence.  That influence can catalyze negative events, by  bringing negative energies to the surface.  But as we (humanity) evolve  spiritually, we are less inclined to allow those influences to control us.  We are becoming more spiritually mature, and that my friends is very good news, and reason  for great hope.

"I met Diane after my mother (who lives on the opposite side of the US) had a session with her. Diane told my mother about one of her daughters (described me) who was having some medical issues. Diane then proceeded to tell my mother about some medical issues I had just learned of and some I didn't know about yet! Needless to say, I scheduled an appointment with Diane for that week.
She has been a huge help to me and my family--including our four-legged members. For instance, one cat was jumping of the second story deck--regularly. Diane let me know why and I made the proper adjustments and the cat hasn't jumped since--the cat is now happy as a clam. (I think if I put Diane's phone number on speed dial, my cats would call her regularly--thank heavens they don't have thumbs!) I am so grateful that Diane has chosen to share her gifts with us. Thank you, Diane.
A childhood friend of mine and myself decided to take a weekend workshop with Diane. I went to NC from California and my friend came from Texas. We made a weekend of it. I personally think this workshop should be mandatory for every human on the planet. To be able to see how our thoughts effect each other (an exercise measuring someone's energy field while the group sent good thought and again while we sent negative) was amazing. And that was one of the exercises we did over the two days. I walked away with a better understanding of how and what we create in our own lives and the power we each have to make our lives and world better. I highly recommend this workshop for every one on the planet!"