People will either be empowered, empower themselves or leave. All the time of course we are talking about Western, market-driven economies. For example, it is suggested that Americans enjoy a more optimistic outlook than Europeans. Enthusiasm comes essentially from your love of the work you are doing. Optimism is more an innate predisposition to view the world in a certain way.
European cultures are older and more cynical than American ones.
But optimism is also a question of the environment. It would be difficult to be optimistic in Kosovo at present. Yet, at the edge of our consciousness is a feeling that it won't last. So optimism is a function of both environment and genes. This encouraged people to do as they were told, and wealth and success were not looked on with any great favour.