dagblog - Comments for "Barack Obama, American Stoic"

After Marcus Aurelius came

Smut Clyde — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 10:18:43 +0000

In reply to Barack Obama, American Stoic

After Marcus Aurelius came Emperor Commodus.

I wasn't proposing that

Lori Newcomb — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 06:27:55 +0000

In reply to Thanks for reading, Lori. I

I wasn't proposing that progressive Stoicism differs from the classical ideal you sketched. It's that given the past and present co-optation of 'Stoicism,' we might need to add an adjective to communicate what that classical ideal offers in our current predicament (and 'compassionate' has been tainted for a while, so I was searching for something else). The trickiness of reclaiming classical virtues now is something classicists are talking about, too.

Thanks for the comment, Fie.

Doctor Cleveland — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 03:32:06 +0000

In reply to I love and admire President

Thanks for the comment, Fie. I'm not sure Stoicism makes one more or less vulnerable to scheming Machiavells. Certainly, Obama sometimes seems to be too high-minded for the Beltway's low games. But I don't think controlling your passions and trying to strive for a good outcome is incompatible with cold political calculations.

Thanks for reading, Lori. I

Doctor Cleveland — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 03:23:39 +0000

In reply to I would add to this sentence:

Thanks for reading, Lori. I hadn't known that the alt-right had adopted a bastard form of Stoicism, but lack of compassion does not a Stoic make. And the alt-right is in fact full of grievance and hysteria. They might say they are Stoics, but they're astoundingly whiny.

Nor does Stoicism necessarily preclude compassion for others, or a bit of righteous anger.

Well, "Neo" up through The

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 06:31:51 +0000

In reply to I would add to this sentence:

Well, "Neo" up through The Matrix made things cool, but since "neoliberal" not so much. "post-" still works and saves a few syllables, so "poststoic", despite (or because of) the feeling that it's all over 'cept the crying.

I'll raise you a Gnostic and

PeraclesPlease — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 06:25:55 +0000

In reply to I love and admire President

I'll raise you a Gnostic and toss in a couple Luddites. May trade you a Jacobin as well, but want to see how he performs coming out of Sarasota.

One of the (many) reasons it

Michael Maiello — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 04:27:19 +0000

In reply to Thanks, Michael. Glad you

One of the (many) reasons it was open season on Obama for eight years is that the Left cannot articulate a defense in terms of the man's character.

This one should be so easy... Obama governed for eight years without serious scandal. The problem is, in the absence of real scandal, his opponents just made stuff up and the made up stuff was somehow treated as scandal in the national discourse.

I would add to this sentence:

Lori Newcomb — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:05:58 +0000

In reply to Barack Obama, American Stoic

I would add to this sentence:

"But Stoic self-control has so far out of fashion that we have trouble understanding it, trouble even calling it by its proper name."

that the alt-right and other reactionary movements have tried to make their own version of Stoicism fashionable; https://emotionsblog.history.qmul.ac.uk/2016/11/how-the-alt-right-emerge...

And many progressive movements would say that anger must cry out at times.

I would suggest that Obama's Stoicism is powerful today because it selectively cracks emotions open, but only on behalf of others who are oppressed. Maybe we would call this 'progressive Stoicism'; or, since it takes a movement, 'progressives' Stoicism.'

I love and admire President

Fie upon this quiet life — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 17:54:43 +0000

In reply to Barack Obama, American Stoic

I love and admire President Obama, and I'm sad to see him go. I really enjoyed this post, too. I wonder, though -- do you think Stoicism makes one more (or less?) vulnerable to the tactics of Machiavells? I feel like Obama suffered politically for his values during both of his terms, but especially in the second. The Republicans seemed to have been students of Machiavelli, while Obama kept his principles in focus.

Part of me thinks that it's foolish to ignore those Machiavellian tactics, or simply shame people about them, which Obama sometimes did. I'm ambivalent. I want the democrats to fight back, but I don't want them to eschew their principles and become unrepentant Machiavells. Thoughts?

Well , it is bigger than

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 16:44:17 +0000

In reply to The two most famous Stoic

Well , it is bigger than politics, Danny. It's also a question of how to live your life