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> It seems the only way to be 'free' in the old sense is to be the king of yourself. Willing to throw away everything you could ever have or gain simply to reta

by miles 7y ago

> It seems the only way to be 'free' in the old sense is to be the king of yourself. Willing to throw away everything you could ever have or gain simply to retain authority over your own being. You are channeling Epictetus[0]: That is why [Diogenes] used to say, "From the time that Antisthenes set me free, I have ceased to be a slave." How did Antisthenes set him free? Listen to what Diogenes says. "He taught me what was mine, and what was not mine. Property is not mine; kinsmen, members of my household, friends, reputation, familiar places, converse with men—all these are not my own. 'What, then, is yours? Power to deal with external impressions.' He showed me that I possess this beyond all hindrance and constraint; no one can hamper me; no one can force me to deal with them otherwise than as I will. Who, then, has authority over me? Philip, or Alexander, or Perdiccas, or the Great King? Where can they get it? For the man who is destined to be overpowered by a man must long before that have been overpowered by things." Therefore, the man over whom pleasure has no power, nor evil, nor fame, nor wealth, and who, whenever it seems good to him, can spit his whole paltry body into some oppressor's face and depart from this life—whose slave can he any longer be, whose subject? [0] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADiscourses_of_Epictetus_volume_2_Oldfather_1928.djvu/217 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3ADiscourses_of_Epictetu...

friendlybus 7y ago
Interesting. With this recent resurgence of Hitler/Stalin stuff (that is basically gone now) it seems the last time we went through an authoritarian phase there was a whole host of problems with the surrounding ideas and the implementation of it. The most recent speaker of note on it went on to talk about how he thinks the only solution this time round is to be individualist masters of our own house. Many people agree with that idea. That speaker was likely influenced by Epictetus too, and the Greeks in general. We are all individually doomed to stand and burn in the sunlight, as a hierarchy of authority forms around us. But this is only half the equation. In the past the exiled half was a matter of flesh and assumed racial identity. We aren't doing that again. But what is the exiled status? An individual that says no to authority? What is the core problem with somebody who does not bend to our current wave of authoritarianism? How do we harness this power for good? It would be trivial to f* it up. Give past dictators the power of tagging & labeling in a secret worldwide internet database that contains everybody's face & data and the world becomes very dark very quickly. We must figure out what we are fighting to protect before it's gone forever.

by miles 7y ago

friendlybus 7y ago

Interesting. With this recent resurgence of Hitler/Stalin stuff (that is basically gone now) it seems the last time we went through an authoritarian phase there was a whole host of problems with the surrounding ideas and the implementation of it. The most recent speaker of note on it went on to talk about how he thinks the only solution this time round is to be individualist masters of our own house. Many people agree with that idea. That speaker was likely influenced by Epictetus too, and the Greeks in general. We are all individually doomed to stand and burn in the sunlight, as a hierarchy of authority forms around us. But this is only half the equation. In the past the exiled half was a matter of flesh and assumed racial identity. We aren't doing that again. But what is the exiled status? An individual that says no to authority? What is the core problem with somebody who does not bend to our current wave of authoritarianism? How do we harness this power for good? It would be trivial to f* it up. Give past dictators the power of tagging & labeling in a secret worldwide internet database that contains everybody's face & data and the world becomes very dark very quickly. We must figure out what we are fighting to protect before it's gone forever.