I have to agree with most of what you wrote, but i respectfully disagree with your point that

> But even a small amount of pessimism leads to fatalism.

Although it being an understandable point of view on the matter, Fatalism doesn't necessarily go hand-in-hand with pessimism. My great grandmother is from the Silent Generation, with a very strong fatalism oriented view, and she is far from pessimistic in her views of the world. In fact, she is the total opposite. Same goes for every family member i know are pessimistic and show the opposite of fatalism in their beliefs about the world, they do not hold the belief that a higher force drives their destiny.