The Powerful Are Not Free

It’s funny that we spend so much time being jealous of people whose lives we do not even begin to understand. People look at the famous and the powerful and wish they could have what they have. As if those bounties did not come at very high costs! Ernest Renan, writing about Marcus, observed that the “sovereign...is the least free of men.” Look at a telling moment in Obama’s presidency—he showed up for work one day in a brown suit...and everyone freaked out. One cannot imagine the same reaction to Professor Barack Obama wearing that same suit to teach his law students. Look even at President Trump today, where one can grant that he has a number of abhorrent beliefs (and has done abhorrent things) and still see that part of his persona is to be over the top and to joke and to not mean everything he says literally. For most of his life, this was all pretty well understood by the public and by the press. But now that he is president? Not so much. Everything is made to seem deadly serious and there is not even room for a typo without much scrutiny. This was a freedom Trump lost when he took office. Renan said that Marcus did not have the right to his own opinions, even his own tastes as emperor. As a father, he probably would have been able to ship his son off to serve in the army or kick him out of his house. As an emperor, his son’s life was not fully in their possession. He was essentially legally obligated to groom his heir for the throne, despite the fact that as a man he must have known this was not right. Thankfully, few of us will find ourselves in any of these “imperial” problems. But they should give us some gratitude and appreciation for our own stations in life. Do you really want to be a billionaire who is constantly on guard against being kidnapped (or your children being kidnapped)? Do you want to be a celebrity who has to deal with photographers following you everywhere you go? Do you want to be the athlete who has so spend countless, mind-numbing hours in the pool every single day, who cannot let up after countless gold medals and millions of dollars? In truth, no you wouldn’t. We are lucky to be as free as we are. To be normal, “regular” people. We must cherish our rights to our opinions and our privacies and our safe spaces to screw up and be human. And if we can, stop chasing the “good fortune” that will take all that away. See 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?

  The powerful are not free. It's funny that we spend so much time being jealous of people whose lives we do not even begin to understand. People look at the famous and the powerful and wish they could have what they have, as if those bounties did not come at very high costs. Ernest Renan, writing about Marcus, observed that the sovereign is the least free of men. Look at a telling moment in Obama's presidency. He showed up for work one day in a brown suit, and everyone freaked out. One cannot imagine the same reaction to Professor Barack Obama, wearing the same suit to teach his law students. Look

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  even at President Trump today, where one can grant that he has a number of abhorrent beliefs and has done some abhorrent things, and still see that part of his persona is to be over the top and to joke and to not mean everything he says literally. But for most of his life, this was all pretty much well-understood by the public and by the press. But now that he is president, not so much. Everything is made to seem deadly serious, and there is not even room for a typo without much scrutiny. This was a freedom Trump lost when he took office. Ernest Renan said that Marcus did not even have the right to his

• 1:51Ryan Holiday?

  own opinions, that even his own tastes as emperor were circumscribed. As a normal father, he probably would have been able to ship his son off to serve in the army or kick him out of his house. As an emperor, his son's life was not fully in their possession. He was essentially legally obligated to groom his heir for the throne, despite the fact that as a man, he must have known this was not right. Thankfully, few of us will find ourselves in any of these imperial problems. But they should give us some gratitude and appreciation for our own stations in life. Do you really want to be a billionaire who is constantly on guard against being kidnapped

• 2:35Ryan Holiday?

  or having your children being kidnapped? Do you really want to be a celebrity who has to deal with photographers following you around everywhere you go? Do you really want to be the athlete who has to spend countless mind-numbing hours in the pool every single day, who cannot let up after countless gold medals and millions of dollars? In truth, no, you wouldn't. We are lucky to be as free as we are, to be normal, regular people. We must cherish our rights to our opinions, our privacies, and our safe spaces to screw up and be human. And if we can, to stop chasing the good fortune that would take all of that away.

• 3:16Ryan Holiday?

  If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoic.com/email.