The Daily Stoic - If Everyone Is Woke, Then No One is Awake

Episode Date: February 5, 2020

It’s unquestionably a good thing that the world is waking up to the idea of social justice. For too long, marginalized groups have been precisely that—marginalized. Oppression, racism, unequal access to opportunity have been too common for too long in America and the world. People have been way too insensitive to the trauma that all sorts of people have experienced in life, and indifferent to how those traumas are exacerbated and triggered by the way we do things. Of course, we should be awake and aware of this. Kindness and fairness and human dignity are core Stoic virtues, so there would be no objection from Marcus Aurelius or Seneca to the idea of social justice. Certainly Epictetus, a former slave, would have fit right into our modern discussion about privilege and equality. But it’s also true that the Stoics would have looked quite warily on the increasing radicalization of the so-called “woke” activists. Nor would they have been surprised at how quickly its self-righteousness has created alarming abuses of power (and in some cases, been guilty of the same injustices they claim to fight against.) Administrators and activists at Oberlin College in Ohio egged on a mob that wrongly accused a small-town bakery of racism and tried to run them out of business. The #MeToo movement, which has brought all sorts of terrible sexual predators to justice, also—it seems—prematurely deprived Al Franken of due process and cost themselves an ally in the Senate. There have been countless other examples, from the Covington Kids and the Yale Halloween costume controversy to using physical force to deprive people of their right to free speech and a surprising level of tolerance for anti-semitism, where jumping to conclusions and moral certainty have caused embarassing lapses in judgement.These movements are supposed to be about truth and justice and fairness. But like any movement, when they become a mob, or become blind to nuance or empathy, they can do real harm to people. When everyone is woke, then no one is awake. The Stoics believed in virtue, not virtue signaling. They were not naive. They knew the world was full of injustices and evil and believed that it was not just important, but every person’s duty to fight against it. At the same time, Marcus Aurelius reminded himself that most people who did wrong were not doing it on purpose. He spoke of the importance of mercy, of forgiveness and understanding. Most of all, he spoke about practicing what he preached. He couldn’t control other people, but he could control whether he did wrong himself. And this is an important lesson for everyone out there fighting for the important cause of social justice. Radicalization is dangerous, whether it’s on the right or left. Anger is the problem, not the solution. Righteousness can easily become self-righteousness. We must be careful. We must be kind. We must be fair. We must always act with the virtues that the Stoics believed balanced out the pursuit of justice: courage, moderation, and wisdom.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. If everyone is woke, then no one is awake. It's unquestionably a good thing that the world is waking up to the idea of social justice. too long marginalized groups have been precisely that, marginalized. Oppression, racism, unequal access to opportunity have been too common for too long in America and the world.

People have been way too insensitive to the trauma that all sorts of people have experienced in life and indifferent to how those traumas are exacerbated and triggered by the way we do things. Of course, we should be aware and awaited to this. Kindness and fairness and human dignity are core stoic virtues, so there would be no objection for Marcus Aurelius or Seneca to the idea of social justice. Certainly, Epictetus of former slave would have fit right into our modern discussion about privilege and equality. But it's also true that the Stokes would have looked quite wearily on the increasing radicalization of the so-called woke activists. Nor would they have been surprised at how quickly its self-righteousness has created alarming abuses of power,

and in some cases, been guilty of the same injustices they claimed to fight against. Administrators and activists at Oberlin College in Ohio egged on a mob that wrongly accused a small town bakery of racism and tried to run them out of business. The Me Too movement, which has brought all sorts of terrible sexual predators to justice, also, it seems, prematurely deprived Al Franken of due process and cost themselves an ally in the Senate. There have been countless other examples from the Covington kids and the Yale Halloween costume controversy to use in

physical force to deprive people of the right to free speech and a surprising level of tolerance for anti-semitism, where jumping to the wrong conclusions and moral certainty have caused embarrassing lapses of judgment. These movements are supposed to be about truth and justice and fairness, but like any movement when they become a mob or blind to nuance or empathy can do real harm to people when everyone is woke, then no one is awake. The Stoics believed in virtue, not virtue signaling. They were not naive. They knew the world was full of injustices and evil and believed that it was

not just important, but every person's duty to fight against it. At the same time, Marcus Aurelius reminded himself that most people who did wrong were not doing it on purpose. He spoke of the importance of mercy, of forgiveness, and understanding. Most of all, he spoke about practicing what he preached. He couldn't control other people, but he can control whether he did wrong himself. And this is an important lesson for everyone out there fighting for the important cause of social justice. Radicalization is dangerous, whether it's on the right or the left. Anger is the problem, not the solution. Righteousness can easily become self-righteousness. We must be careful, we must be kind, we must

be fair, and we must always act with the virtues that the Stoics believed balanced out the pursuit of justice, courage, moderation, and wisdom. Thanks for listening to the Daily Stoic podcast. If you could leave us a review in iTunes, it helps a great deal. And of course, if you know anyone who had benefit from these messages, please spread the word. Thanks. Hey, Prime Members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts.

Hey there listeners! While we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduke Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Kodopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that

pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool homes, or even figuring out how to make drinking water from air and sunlight. Together, they discuss their entire journey from day one, and all the skills they had to learn along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So if you want to get inspired and learn how to think like an entrepreneur, check out how I built this wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wondery app. Celebrity feuds are high stakes.

You never know if you're just going to end up on page 6 or Du Moir or in court. I'm Matt Bellesai. And I'm Sydney Battle. And we're the host of Wonder Woman's new podcast, Dis and Tell, where each episode we unpack a different iconic celebrity feud. From the buildup, why it happened, and the repercussions. What does our obsession with these feud say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama,

but none is drawn out in personal as Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. When Britney's fans form the free Brittany movement dedicated to fraying her from the infamous conservatorship, Jamie Lynn's lack of public support, it angered some fans, a lot of them. It's a story of two young women who had their choices taken away from them by their controlling parents, but took their anger out on each other. And it's about a movement to save a superstar, which set its sights upon anyone who failed to fight for Brittany. Follow Disenthal wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or the Wondering App.