Stoicism in Times of Unrest

We live in a turbulent time. As with many volatile periods in history, it seems like every day the news brings reports of struggle and upheaval. Many people even experience it first-hand. This anxiety has given birth to comparisons like the civil unrest in the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Others have likened it to the 1930s and 1940s with tariffs and Japanese internment camps. Still others see parallels to the 1890s, given the rise in unionizing, labor struggles, and wealth inequality. These comparisons give a helpful perspective. Times were hard then, too, but we got through them, often leaving society better. Another window of history we can look to for unrest is the Hellenistic period in ancient Greece. After Alexander the Great’s death (323 BCE), the once mighty Macedonian Empire began to rapidly tear itself apart. This gave rise to several survival philosophies. These schools of thought aimed to provide inner peace and happiness during tough times.

The most popular of these was Stoicism. The Stoic philosophers said that unhappiness is caused by our passions – things outside of our control stir up an emotional response. The cure, they said, is to temper these harmful emotions through reasoning. Learning to accept the things we cannot change leads to a happy life. This conclusion has led to a common misconception that Stoicism means being cold and emotionless. After all, the experience of emotion is a fundamental part of our humanity. Should we really seek to rid ourselves of it? Additionally, doesn’t the focus on calmness and control encourage us to accept injustice and suffering rather than trying to resist it? Is this really what Stoicism teaches?

There are some helpful lessons to be learned here from Martin Luther King, Jr., who shows us what applied Stoicism can look like during challenging times. On April 16, 1963, he wrote an open letter after being jailed for protesting racial segregation. This Letter from Birmingham Jail includes powerful moral statements on the injuries inflicted when justice is delayed, as well as the dangers of prioritizing decorum over justice. If we are earnest about doing what’s right, responding to injustice could mean non-violent direct action such as protests, strikes, boycotts, or civil disobedience. King provides four steps to determine if action is needed, and if so, how to prepare. The first step requires gathering facts to determine if injustice has truly occurred. The second step is negotiation. If an injustice is identified, in an ideal world, we would bring it to the attention of those with power to stop it. However, if injustice occurs because those in power are either complicit or complacent, negotiations fail. What then? This brings us back to what the Stoics mean when we talk about accepting our suffering. Acceptance doesn’t mean to consent, but to come to terms with the reality of the situation so we can focus on what we can change. Stoicism is about “keeping your head in the game.”

Since we cannot control the past nor can we know the future, Stoicism helps us tune out noise so we can focus on what is in front of us. Stoic acceptance means not letting passions weigh you down so much that you lose focus on what you can do today. Likewise, Martin Luther King, Jr. shows that when negotiations fail, we must accept the reality of what happened without resigning ourselves to those failures.

The final step that King prescribes is direct action, a pressure campaign designed to bring people with power back to the bargaining table. This follows from his third step: self-purification for that campaign. He  describes self-purification as preparing oneself to react peacefully in the face of violence. This takes incredible mental training and self-discipline! It also helps to clarify what the Stoics might mean by ridding oneself of passions. In the face of violence, it is only natural to have strong emotions. If someone harms you, a person you love, or a community member, reactions like anger and fear are to be expected, especially if the harm is unjust. The problem is not the sudden onset of these feelings (in other words, a passion in itself), but what we do with them. King’s step of self-purification readies us to focus on what’s most important (justice) and not to let even the most powerful passions break our focus. While it is easy to “lean into” emotions that make us feel defeated or that distract us from what’s important, we should pause and ask ourselves, “What is in my control? I may be angry or feel crushed, but what can I do today to make a difference?”

In turbulent times, even when we think about what is in our control, it may still seem like too much. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus reminds us that our lives are like actors in a play. We do not decide the life we are given, but it is up to us to live it as well as we can. If we do, we might find we are capable of more strength and resilience than we were expecting: “…each thing that happens to you, remember to turn to yourself and ask what capacity you have for dealing with it… If hardship comes to you, you will find endurance. If it is abuse, you will find patience.”

Perhaps it feels like things are out of control, and you want to act, but feel overwhelmed. Maybe you have been doing what you can to help others, but there’s so much to do that it feels hopeless. It may be that you are struggling with daily mental health with the onslaught of negative information in this time of uncertainty. These are times when passions can prove especially difficult to master. These passions get in our way and can be paralyzing. They keep us from doing good in the world or providing the self-care that we need. The Stoics help us focus on what’s important and tune out what is not. What’s important is what is in front of us today. As Martin Luther King, Jr. shows, this does not mean giving in or giving up. Quite the contrary! If we focus on what’s in front of us right now, we position ourselves to take on whatever comes next.