Ancient Stoic Wisdom: A Gift to the Modern World, if Used
Be Good, Do Good
Statue of Marcus-Aurelius, Rome, Italy. Photo: (Jebulon, Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication)
I’m fascinated that we can go back some 20 centuries and find wisdom that informs us today. This proves to me that, while the elites of each modern age believe it is wiser than previous ages, human nature doesn’t change.
So, when I think about some of today’s political leaders, I’m thinking, if they ever read the words of the Roman Philosopher/Emperor Marcus Aurelius, it would be a gut punch.
Marcus Aurelius wrote, “If, at some point in your life, you should come across anything better than justice, truth, self-control, courage—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed.” Aurelius’ advice was simple: Be good, do good. And, from DailyStoic.com, “You Don't Control What Happens, You Control How You Respond.”
This simple admonishment comes to mind whenever I hear someone concede that politicians must compromise their integrity to succeed. Aurelius was the most powerful “politician” in the world at that time, ruling over a quarter of humanity. So, what’s the modern politicians’ excuse for not trying to be virtuous?
How many politicians today reject these essential virtues? To some degree, most, if not all, of them. After all, like all of us who struggle with such qualities, they are also human.
However, the more important question is how many of them value or, even better, attempt to emulate these character traits to become a better person—to be good—for its own sake, to help make a better world?
As DailyStoic.com states, “Everything we face in life is an opportunity to respond with these four traits” [justice, truth, self-control, courage].
Think about having a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) (and other government agencies) that promotes injustice, through a multi-tiered criminal justice system, from which we are now attempting to extract ourselves.
Here’s an example of a judges’ response to the federal injustice system. Last year, according to the LA Times, a federal judge in California ruled on a case that highlighted some of California’s jurisdictions’ unequal treatment of people on the political Right compared with the political Left—spoiler alert: He didn’t like it.
The Times’ Brittny Mejia wrote, “An Orange County federal judge has dismissed criminal charges for the second time in five years against accused members of a Southern California white supremacist group suspected of inciting brawls at political rallies throughout the state.”
Now, I don’t defend “white supremacists,” if that’s truly what they are. You never know, since the Left uses that term—pardon the pun—liberally. This judge is only acting on what Americans had been experiencing under President Barack Obama and FJB, since before the Left beatified Saint George Floyd.
We’ve all seen the blue city, county, state, and federal government agencies going hair-on-fire against people on the Right for even non-violent offenses while all but ignoring the Left’s actual violence (by “mostly peaceful protesters [insert fiery background, here]).”
Incidentally, President Obama (even after leaving office) and FJB also repeatedly insulted cops, which of course, sticks with me.
Again, I refer to the St. Floyd riots. Some radical leftists can’t get prosecuted for participating in burning down a police precinct in Minneapolis, attempting to burn one down in Seattle, or even after committing arson on a federal courthouse in Portland.
Little happened to these leftist rioters, but in California, a non-leftist defendant “was extradited from Romania in 2023.”
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney had “dismissed charges against Robert Rundo — from Romania — and Robert Boman of Torrance. The two had been charged with conspiracy to violate the Anti-Riot Act and rioting.” Again, this isn’t to condone bad acts but to condemn a two-tiered justice system.
Rundo is alleged to be a founding member of Rise Above Movement, or RAM, a white supremacist group that, according to a federal indictment, touted itself as a “combat-ready, militant group of a new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement.” Boman was also an alleged member of the group.
In his decision, Judge Carney granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss, agreeing that Rundo and Boman were being selectively prosecuted while “far-left extremist groups, such as Antifa,” were not. So, in this case, both the asshole Antifa militia and asshole white supremacists get off—because the FJB’s leftist extremists poisoned the criminal justice system.
It’s quite clear these politicians and officials fostering the two-tiered criminal justice system have not taken Marcus Aurelius’s advice to “be good.” Anyone who participates in not prosecuting people from one group while sending the other to prison is doing evil.
“Prosecuting only members of the far right and ignoring members of the far left leads to the troubling conclusion that the government believes it is permissible to physically assault and injure Trump supporters to silence speech,” Carney wrote in his order.
“There seems to be little doubt that Defendants, or at least some members of RAM, engaged in criminal violence. But they cannot be selected for prosecution because of their repugnant speech and beliefs over those who committed the same violence with the goal of disrupting political events.”
Boman was already free on bond, while Rundo was still being detained. Prosecutors had requested that Rundo remain in custody pending the government’s appeal, which Carney denied.
“I don’t believe it’s warranted that Mr. Rundo spends one minute more in custody, so I’m going to release him forthwith,” Carney said. “I feel very comfortable in the decision I’ve made.”
The government, not giving up it’s two tiered tactics, filed an emergency motion to stay Rundo’s release and keep him in custody. The motion said Rundo “presents a grave risk of flight, as well as a danger to the community.” It asked that the release order be reversed. It wasn’t.
However, those same officials are perfectly fine with allowing violent BLM/Antifa militia members to escape criminal justice system unscathed. These are people who also pose a clear and present “danger to the community.”
Just as many people, including some cops, weren’t comfortable with President Trump pardoning or commuting the sentences of some or all of the J6 defendants, especially those who assaulted cops, sometimes the system needs to be cleansed, even if that means some people who committed actual crimes are released. Because the process was colossally flawed.
Going back a mere 200 years compared to 2,000, we can still find wisdom from an earlier age. Benjamin Franklin once advised “that it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape, than that one innocent Person should suffer.”
In the J6 case, especially if you read Julie Kelly’s book, January 6th, it appears that the federal government made sure, while ignoring the violent BLM/Antifa militias, that some 1,500 times larger than “one innocent Person” suffered after that dark day.
