People are driven by fear

It’s high time for a Stoic Opposition revival.

Marcus groaned about his detractors and obstructors. He couldn’t help but find himself surrounded by them at every turn. But he knew that they were like him: human, fallible, adrift. And so he got out of bed in the morning and did his duty, both despite them and for them. The Stoics don’t care if their neighbours, their colleagues, or their families care about doing the right thing. The Stoics focus on doing the right thing regardless.

We live in a time when the values central to Stoicism: Wisdom, Balance, Community, and Justice require courage to stand behind. People are driven by fear, which leads to anxiety, which leads to greed and hate and divisiveness and retribution. They see someone standing up for the right thing and call them naive or rigid or dangerous. But the people who most challenge those to live by virtue are most afraid of it.

The need for moral clarity

Moral clarity is a caustic and cleansing light when directed at the morally corrupt; such that they do all they can to skitter away or snuff it out. Throughout history, the Stoics were renowned and rebuked alike for their opposition to autocrats and tyrants in all walks of life, from the lowliest of slavers to the most depraved of emperors. They faced isolation and exile, torture and execution, and did so not simply with impassivity and an uncaring demeanour, but with defiance and humour and a smile.

Standing up to an emperor

These Stoics who endured the most severe consequences for embracing the most fundamental truths of man were revered for decades and centuries after their passing. Helvidius Priscus, a Roman statesman in the times of Nero and Vespasian, was venerated by Epictetus for his consistency of character and rigidity against resistance. When Vespasian sent for Helvidius Priscus and commanded him not to go into the senate, he replied,

"It is in your power not to allow me to be a member of the senate, but so long as I am, I must go in." 

"Well, go in then," says the emperor, "but say nothing." 

"Do not ask my opinion, and I will be silent." 

"But I must ask your opinion." 

"And I must say what I think right." 

"But if you do, I shall put you to death."

"When then did I tell you that I am immortal? You will do your part, and I will do mine: it is your part to kill; it is mine to die, but not in fear: yours to banish me; mine to depart without sorrow." - Epictetus, Discourses, 1.2

The right thing is the only thing that matters

Embellished though their stories may now be, having been gilded by compassionate historians and scribes through the years, the Stoic Opposition embodied the core tenets of their philosophy: that which is the right thing to do is the only thing that matters; he who lives in service to others serves himself; and the ends do not justify the means.

The comfort of moral compromise eats at the soul of the person who knows it is wrong, but does so out of a misguided notion that resistance is worse, or that the consequences of failure against immorality outweigh the chasm of self-contempt that grows in your core for failing to resist at all. The Stoics knew that standing up for what was right mattered more than having the respect of the wretched, even when everyone around them – including those with power – thought that they were wrong.

Resisting with moral clarity

As Stoics, we resist with moral clarity. We oppose by holding up a mirror to the unjust. But we do not shy away from them, cloister ourselves in echo chambers filled with well-meaning cowards who comfort and cajole us into passivity. We find what it is we can do to resist and go about that work as best we can. Whether it is by showing kindness to those in suffering, or by going toe to toe with those who cause it, we do what we can, not because it will fix the world’s problems, but because it is the right thing to do.

We treat others with fairness, give what we can, take only what we need, think through our actions, and change our minds only when evidence and truth demands it, and give up to and including our lives because that is what we are meant to do. That alone is an act of rebellion to those who reject those core characteristics of humanity; and that rebellion alone can be enough.

John Kuna is a Stoic prokopton, writer, and dog lover. He likes digging deep into Stoic theory, but also writing accessible and inspiring Stoic content.

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