Stoicism Is The Philosophy Dictatorship & Plutocracy Welcome

Modern “stoicism”, in the end, doesn’t seem significantly different from what modern no nonsense philosophy should be.

Overall, for me, stoicism was a philosophy made to go hand in hand with dictatorships: all stoic philosophers, think of it, operated under dictatorship. Had I been a dictator, like the Macedonians, I would have looked to the stoa mildly… Whereas Antipater and others wanted Demosthenes to die under torture. Were I Domitian, who expressed his hatred of philosophers, and, with his ultra wealthy friends, celebrated how they controlled Rome, I would have looked at Epictetus teaching in a benign fashion: they made us believe virtue was possible in a lethal dictatorship where not toeing the one and only party line meant death.

Domitian tolerated Stoicism. And killed any other creative thinking.

Do we need this now? Do we need to placidly contemplate and hone our own virtues while a few guys in charge prepare thermonuclear war, and civilization is under threat of imminent deconstruction? Or do we need passion, and start first with a feeling of rebellion, and proclaim that enough is enough?

For me the later, passion. And enough with my virtues, or those of other individuals I have come across: they are plenty enough. What we need is a virtuous government for the planet, and that request doesn’t come from humility, but rebellion and bold assertion of myself, and my ilk, as a role model!

The ultimate stoic is Seneca. He taught Nero, by age 11, and thereafter. Seneca covered Nero’s crimes, Seneca excused Nero’s crimes in front of the Senate. Seneca always say obvious things, prettily. Seneca is philosophical comfort food. Seneca is sucking on sweets all day long.

Stoicism is not just the philosophy dictatorship & plutocracy welcome, looking at the chronology and the evidence, one could say they invented it. So does stoicism have a future? Maybe, but then we don’t.

Patrice Ayme