Will You Do Your Duty?

"In one sense, it’s hard to argue with the statistics that any individual’s vote makes a difference. One person out of so many? When more than 50% of the population doesn’t even bother? In a country of gerrymandering and voter suppression? In the other, it’s stunning to think that the 2016 US presidential election, which saw some 135 million votes, was decided by roughly 77,000 ballots across three states. Michigan was swung by just 10,000 voters. But to this argument, the Stoic would scoff. Whether your vote counts or not is not the reason that one should engage in the democratic process."Ryan describes why a Stoic takes the time to engage carefully with the democratic process—and exhorts everyone to vote—in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow Daily Stoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  Will you do your duty? In one sense, it's hard to argue with the statistics that any individual's vote makes a difference. One person out of so many? When more than 50% of the population doesn't even bother? In a country of gerrymandering and voter suppression? Yet, on the other hand, it's stunning to think that the 2016 US presidential election, which saw some 135 million votes, was decided by roughly 77,000 ballots across three states. Michigan was swung by just 10,000 votes. But to this argument, the Stoic would scoff. Whether your vote counts or not is not the

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  reason why one should engage in the democratic process. First off, the Stoics are explicit that the philosopher is obligated to contribute to the polis and to participate in politics. In fact, this is an essential difference between the Epicureans and the Stoics. But more important, the idea that one should only do something if their preferred outcome is guaranteed violates just about everything we talk about here. As Marcus Aurelius wrote, "You must build up your life, action by action, and be content each one achieves its goal as far as possible, and no one can keep you from this," which is to say, the act of casting a ballot is in your control. Who gets elected is not.

• 1:54Ryan Holiday?

  The latter is not an excuse from the duty of the former. Think about how dangerous the logic of non-voting would be if extrapolated out. Almost no difference is made by the individual who decides to do the right thing, to do an act of kindness, to insist on a true When a falsehood is easier to be a good parent, to care about the quality of their work. Are these reasons to be a liar, a cheat, an asshole, a bad parent, or a poor craftsman? Of course not. And imagine what the world would be like if everyone insisted that it was. A better world is built action by action, vote by vote, even if the vast majority of those votes and actions are thwarted. Being good, like voting, is in our control.

• 2:37Ryan Holiday?

  Whether it has a noticeable or significant impact on the world is not, but we do it anyway because it's our duty. The same is true for voting today, in the next election, in every election. Make your tiny contribution to the common good because it will make a difference. If not to the whole, it will make a difference to you. And the fact that pretty much all the politicians we can choose from are a choice between the lesser of two evils? Well, Marcus Aurelius reminds us that we shouldn't go around expecting Plato's Republic. This is the real world. So who you vote for, that's your call. Just make sure that the Stoic virtues of justice and fairness and sympathy and character,

• 3:19Ryan Holiday?

  good character, influences your decision. I mean that, guys, please vote. I just sent off my mail-in ballot here in Texas this morning. I felt good about it. I made the right decision. Me personally, I don't like the direction things are going, and I decided I'm not going to support anyone or any party that has decided to give themselves over to any kind of cult of personality. So I made my stand, I made my vote, I feel good about it. I know I can explain to my children in the future that I made the right decision. I know not everyone agrees with how I use my platform, but I don't use my platform here to win or lose fans. I do and say what I think is right because I think it's right.

• 4:02Ryan Holiday?

  And I hope you do the same, and I hope that means voting. Apathy is not the right choice. As General Mattis says, cynicism is cowardice. The decision not to vote because you think they're all the same, it doesn't matter. Blah, blah, blah. That's not what a Stoic does. Stoic does the right thing, even if it makes no difference, even if it makes only a tiny difference, even if it is just one person standing alone against a multitude of incompetence or evil. It doesn't matter. Do the right thing. Cast your vote. Cast it soon. If you can safely vote in person, please do vote in person. If you're sending in a mail-in ballot, send it in ASAP. The earlier it's in, the better.

• 4:43Ryan Holiday?

  Look, we don't know how the election's going to go here in America, but what we can say, what we should commit to, each of us, is to respect the rule of law, to respect each other, to not get caught up in the manipulations of the mob or of fascists, and to comport ourselves with dignity and poise and responsibility, and most of all, with justice and fairness and goodness. Be safe, everyone. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.