Some time ago I was a correspondent on Michael Moore’s Emmy-winning television show, “TV Nation,” and then his follow up, “The Awful Truth.” I’m proudest of my high-profile stories about justice.

I interviewed Frank Sweeney, a former jailbird who’d become a consultant advising white-collar criminals on what to expect when you’re expecting a long stretch at the Graybar Hotel. I hope his advice was good because he himself was soon back in the clink.

I visited Sussex County, Virginia, which was then the fastest-growing county in the U.S. Sussex has the most pig farms on the continent of North America, and consequently the largest hog lagoons. These are not picturesque snorkeling destinations, it’s where millions of gallons of pig excrement washes up. It wasn’t the lakes of porcine poop that drew new residents; two enormous Super-Maximum prisons had recently opened there and the prisoners swelled the census rolls.

And of course, I hit the road with the Johns of Justice. These were six portable loos on a flatbed truck, and we took them to places where women had to wait in long lines for the toilet—nightclubs, Broadway shows, and sports arenas.
Francis Gasparini was my writer-producer, and it was the beginning of a beautiful partnership. Seneca and Marcus Aurelius wrote about the virtue of living in accordance with nature. Francis and I wrote about answering the call of nature.

The concept was deliberately silly, but we were highlighting bathroom inequity: women take longer in the lavatory and need more space, so true equity means building more bathrooms for women than men. This is due to anatomy, fashion, and the fact that women wash their hands longer than men.

We also took our peripatetic porta potties to factories where hundreds of women shared one functioning toilet between them, leading to bladder infections and kidney problems from holding it in for an 8 hours on the line. Some women wore adult diapers to make it through their shift. We were there to highlight how management refused to provide the facilities the hard- working women needed.

No U.S. state mandates more bathrooms for women than men. The House of Representatives in Washington didn't even get water closets for women until 1962, and in 2011 one was finally installed near the legislative chamber, which was no doubt a relief. In Alabama, the law requiring facilities for both men AND women was actually REPEALED in 2015! Perhaps it’s time to get the Johns of Justice out of mothballs and take a road trip to Mobile, Birmingham, and Talladega.

Maybe driving around with toilets on a flatbed truck doesn’t seem like it deserves the descriptor “justice,” or like it has anything to do with Stoicism. I disagree. In fact, I think it’s the very embodiment of the Stoic virtue of justice.
Stoics know that our notion of justice isn’t about courts of law, but about doing good in the world and righting wrongs as best we can. I like to say “It’s a mistake to do nothing because you can only do a little.” Neither I alone, nor with the help of Francis, nor the entire staff and budget of a television show could build more bathrooms for women. What we could do was call attention to the problem, and make people aware that it wasn’t just a problem for women loaded up with three chocotinis, but a real health and safety issue.

“We are not born for ourselves alone,” Cicero tells us, and it’s the orientation to others that for me is the core of Stoic justice. (Cicero, De Officiis, 1:22)

Justice encourages us to act fairly and treat others with respect and dignity. Stoic justice underscores that we are all interconnected, and we should aim for and act for the common good of all people.

Sometimes that’s as simple and easy as treating the person on your customer service call with courtesy. Other times it might be hard, like standing up for your beliefs in a hostile world. But as the radiant Stoic Sharon Lebell remarked, “No one ever promised your life would be easy or convenient.” I agree with her, but I would add that sometimes it does mean helping make sure everyone has access to the conveniences.

You can watch the Johns of Justice segment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- Uwq88L9p6M

Karen Duffy is a producer, actress, and former MTV VJ. Her latest book on Stoicism. Wise Up (https:// amzn.to/3PpLv5D) is published by Seal Press.

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