I personally don't like whitewashing or ignoring bad situations. The world can be a dark place at times, and it's mindless imho to live in "blissful denial", or to "cope" by being cynical or burying empathy in a shallow grave. However, it's counterproductive to either simply dwell only on negatives all the time, or to assume that nothing can be done to improve a situation. I suppose it's a question of balance.