Avoid Owing (and Being Owned)

Seneca was a very rich man. He accumulated that fortune largely due to his service to Nero’s corrupt and broken regime, and then he put that money to work in Rome’s British colonies. In fact, he made so many enormous loans to colonists in Britain, that when the debt was called in around 60 AD, it set off a rebellion in which tens of thousands of people ultimately died. A few short years later, Seneca would learn just how painful it can be on the other side of an unpayable debt. Realizing, alarmingly late, just how deranged Nero was, Seneca tried to walk away from politics. Nero wouldn’t let him. Seneca tried to turn over to Nero everything Nero had ever given him. Even this was not enough--because Seneca, in working for such a man, had, in a sense, pledged him his life. In 65 AD, Nero, paranoid and cleaning house of potential enemies, called in the chit, and Seneca was forced to commit suicide. The lesson: Be wary of debt. Because it is not simply a financial matter. It can be a spiritual matter as well. For to owe can mean to be owned. It can mean that you’ve given up the little bit of control you have in the world and handed it over to a capricious or an insensitive person--or just somebody who values their money more than they value you. It was Marcus, after Seneca’s bloody cautionary tale, who exhibited a better relationship to debt. When he took over the Empire, its finances were a mess. So what did he do? He started selling off palace furnishings. In his view, it was better to live an austere life than one in debt to other people--people who would then try to influence his policy or limit his options. Today in the modern world, debt is a little easier to manage and the markets are a bit more complex. No one is saying you can’t have a mortgage on your house, only that if you have more than one of them...you probably have too much house. No one is saying that you can’t use a credit card, only that if you’re carrying a balance with a minimum payment larger than your most expensive utility bill...you probably need to examine your spending habits. No one is saying you can’t borrow to invest or grow a business, only that you need to be rational and smart about it. Avoid owing and being owned, before someone calls in a chit you cannot pay. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  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. Seneca was a very rich man. He accumulated that fortune largely due to his service to Nero's corrupt and broken regime. And then he put that money to work in Rome's British colonies. In fact, he made so many enormous loans to colonists in Britain that when the

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  debt was called in around 60 AD, it set off a rebellion in which tens of thousands of people ultimately died. A few short years later, Seneca would learn how painful it can be to be on the other side of an unpayable debt. Realizing alarmingly late just how deranged Nero was, Seneca tried to walk away from politics. Nero wouldn't let him. Seneca tried to turn over to Nero everything Nero had ever given to him. Even this was not enough, because Seneca, in working for such a man, had, in a sense, pledged his life to him. In 65 AD, Nero, paranoid and cleaning house of potential enemies, called in the

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  chit, and Seneca was forced to commit suicide. The lesson: be wary of debt, because it is not simply a financial matter. It can be a spiritual matter as well. For to "owe" can mean to be owed. It can mean that you've given up the little bit of control you have in the world and handed it over to a capricious or an insensitive person, or just somebody who values their money more than they value you. It was Marcus, after Seneca's bloody cautionary tale, who exhibited a better relationship to debt. When he took over the empire, its finances were a mess. So what did he do? He started selling off palace furnishings.

• 2:10Speaker 00

  In his view, it was better to live an austere life than one in debt to other people, people who then could try to influence his policy or limit his options. Today, in the modern world, debt is a little easier to manage and the markets are a bit more complex. No one is saying you can't have a mortgage on your house, only that if you have more than one of them, you probably have too much house. No one is saying that you can't use a credit card, only that if you're carrying a balance with a minimum payment larger than your most expensive utility bill, you probably need to examine your spending habits. No one is saying you can't borrow to invest or grow a business, only that you need to be rational and smart about it.

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  Avoid owing and being owned before someone calls in a chit you cannot pay. Please check out the Daily Stoic Stoic where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.