The Daily Stoic - You Must Avoid The Orgy of Materialism and Greed

Episode Date: November 29, 2019

The viciousness of the mob is one of the darker themes in Roman history. There was the angry crowd that tore Saturninus to pieces during Marius’s time. There were the grieving, angry citizens who, riled up by Mark Antony’s funeral oration after the death of Caesar, murdered the poet Cinna just because he had the same name as one of the conspirators. It’s scary what a group of people can do when the unwritten rules of civil society break down. There is perhaps no better day to think about this than Black Friday in America. Fresh off the gratitude of Thanksgiving, we decide to reward ourselves by greedily gorging on stuff. It is hard to think of a day whose entire purpose sits in greater conflict with the Stoic notion of sympatheia. The same people who were previously sitting peacefully with their family are now ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat over a deal on a flat screen television. Instead of enjoying the time off, people have been lined up for hours in the cold to buy more and more crap they don’t actually need, at lower and lower prices. Not to replace the crap they bought last Black Friday, mind you, but to add to the pile. The only cost Black Friday shoppers don’t mind paying for these savings? Yelling matches, countless traffic accidents, and the collateral damage of retail employees being trampled to death. (There’s a website that tallies ‘Black Friday Death Counts’ if you’re really curious.)As Marcus wrote in Meditations, “What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee.” It’s hard to argue that Black Friday is good for anyone or anything but the bottom line of big business. So instead of following the masses on a shopping spree—and possibly a killing spree—it would be nice if you spent this morning thinking about the bigger picture—the biggest picture.We should be humane to each other because we are all human, all part of the same larger body. We spring from the same soil and will each return to it alike one day. When we forget this, it not only hurts other people—makes countless millions mourn—but it hurts us as well.“Revere the gods, and look after each other,” Marcus Aurelius reminds us. “Life is short—the fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.” That is what sympatheia is about. That’s what Oikeiôsis, affinity for your fellow humans, is about. We should live that every day, frankly, but we should be especially mindful of it today. As the exact opposite of a Black Friday deal, we’re selling our Sympatheia coins at full price at Daily Stoic, until Monday December 2nd 6am. BUT, if you buy one, we’ll give you another one free to give to a friend, family member, or colleague who could benefit from it.As we begin the holiday season, we hope you keep this concept in mind when you’re dealing with difficult in-laws, travel delays, or crowds and long lines. Don’t let the modern spirit of materialism and selfishness infect you. Instead, we must all focus on reminders that we are not alone, that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that there is a greater good to which we all owe a duty, above and beyond our own selfish coSee 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. You must avoid the orgy of materialism and greed. One dark theme in Roman history is the viciousness

of the mob. There was the angry crowd that tore Saturn in us to pieces during Marius' time. There were the grieving angry citizens who riled up by Mark Antony's funeral oration after the death of Caesar, decided to murder the poet Cinnat just because he had the same name as one of the conspirators. It's scary what a group of people can do when the decorum of society breaks down. Perhaps no day is worth thinking about this more than today,

which is Black Friday in America, where fresh off the gratitude of thanksgiving, we decide to reward ourselves by gorging on materialism and greed. It's hard to think of a day whose entire purpose sits in greater conflict with the stoic notion of sympathy. Same people who were previously sitting peacefully with their family barely hours ago are now ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat to

get a deal on a flat screen television. Instead of enjoying the time off, people have been lined up in the cold to buy more crap, they don't actually need. The only cost they don't mind paying for these savings, yelling matches, countless traffic accidents, and the collateral damage of retail employees being trampled to death. There's even a website that tallies Black Friday death count, if you're really curious. As Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations, What bad for the hive is bad for the bee, it's hard to argue that black Friday is good for anyone or anything with the bottom line of

big business. So instead of following the masses on a shopping spree, it would be nice if you spent this morning taking a moment to think about the bigger picture, the biggest picture. We should be humane to each other because we are all human, all part of the larger body. We spring from the same soil and will return to it each alike one day. When we forget this, it hurts not only other people, makes countless millions more as the poem goes, but it hurts us as well. Revere the gods and look after each other. Marcus Aurelius reminds us, life is short. The fruit of this life is good character

and acts are the common good. That's what Sympathia is about. That's what Oikiosus affinity for your fellow humans is about. And we should live that every day, but today especially. And so as the exact opposite of a Black Friday deal, we're selling our Sympathia coins at full price, at Daily Stoic, until Monday, December

2nd, at 6am, but if you buy one, we'll give you another one free to give to a friend. As we begin the holiday season, we hope you keep this concept in mind when you're dealing with difficult in-laws, travel delays, or crowds, or long lines. Don't let this modern spirit of materialism and selfishness infect you. Instead, we must all focus on reminders that we are not alone, that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that there is a greater good to which we all owe a duty above and beyond

our own selfish concerns and desires. We are all connected and made for one another, the Stoics knew it, the Buddhists know it, and so should we. This fact should never be far from our minds, and with this medallion, and some meditation on our interconnectedness this morning. It won't be. You can check out this, uh, 2 for 1 deal, at the Daily Stoke Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts.

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