Making A Difference IS Up To You

Look, there’s no way around it: Part of Stoicism is accepting that a lot of what happens in the world is outside our control. Some people have taken this to mean that the Stoics were resigned to their fate—that they were willing to tolerate the status quo and despair of the idea of improving the world or society. Of course this is rather silly when one considers that Marcus Aurelius and Cato and Senecawere all active in political life. Or that a millennium and a half later, the Stoics would directly inspire George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to take action in the founding of a new nation. In accepting what is outside of their control, a true Stoic makes a deal with themselves, and to all those with whom they are connected, to redouble their efforts to influence those things they can change. Earlier this year, Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS shoes and, as it happens, a longtime student of the Stoics (particularly Marcus Aurelius), got a call from his wife after yet another tragic mass shooting. As he described it to us in our interview:My wife called me very emotional and was afraid of taking our son to school. She kept reciting all the recent shootings on the phone, and before we got off, she said, someone must do something about it (she was not suggesting me per se). I got off, and a higher power put a thought in my mind and it was simply: if not me, then who? If not now, then when? Blake came to feel that given his success as an entrepreneur, his track record as a leader, and his platform as the owner of a large, well-known company, perhaps it was in his control to do something about the problem of gun violence in America. Was he delusional to think he could solve the problem all by himself? No. Did he think it would be easy or simple or happen all at once? No. But he did think he had at least some power to make a difference, and so he got to work. First, he and TOMS committed $5 million to groups on the ground fighting to reduce gun violence (which happens to be the single largest corporate donation ever for that cause). But he did not stop at simply giving money. He also built a tool that made it possible for every single American to go to TOMS.com and fill out a quick form that sends a free physical postcard to their congressional representative asking for just one thing: universal background checks for anyone buying a gun (something that 90% of Americans support). And then Blake went on an active, exhausting media tour to spread awareness of this tool, launching it on The Tonight Show and many other outlets. In less than five days, more than half a million citizens participated. Tens of thoSee 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. Making a difference is up to you. Look, there's no way around it. Part of Stoicism is about accepting that a lot of what happens in the world is outside of our control. Some people have taken this to mean that the Stoics were resigned, that they are willing to tolerate the status quo in despair of the idea of improving the world or society. Of course,

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  this is rather silly, considering that Marcus Aurelius, and Cato, and Seneca were all active in political life, and that the Stoics directly inspired George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to found a new nation. Still, it is true that part of Stoicism is accepting what is outside of our control. But it's that last part that is the important part. The Stoic accepts what is outside their influence or power to change. When they can affect change, though, well, the Stoic dives right in. Earlier this year, Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Tom Shoes, and as it happens, a longtime student of the Stoics, particularly

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  Marcus Aurelius, got a call from his wife after yet another tragic shooting. As he describes it, "My wife called me very emotional and was afraid of taking our son to school. She kept reciting all the recent shootings on the phone, and before we got off, she said, 'Someone must do something about it.' She was not suggesting me, per se. I got off, and a higher power put a thought in my mind, and it was simply, 'If not me, then who.'" If not now, then when? In other words, Blake came to think and feel that, given his success as an entrepreneur, his track record as a leader, and his platform as the owner of a large and well-known company,

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  perhaps it was in his control to do something about the problem of gun violence in America. Was he delusional to think that he could solve the problem completely all by himself? No. Did he think it would be easy, or simple, or happen all at once? No. But he did think he had at least some power to make a difference, and so he got to work. First, he and TOMS committed to giving $5 million to groups on the ground fighting to reduce gun violence, which happens to be the single largest corporate donation ever for that cause. But he did not stop at simply giving money away.

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  He also built a tool that made it possible for every single American who wanted to to go to TOMS.com and fill out a quick form that would send a free, physical postcard to their congressional representative, asking for just one thing: requiring universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, something that 90% of Americans support. And then Blake went on an active, exhausting media tour to spread awareness of this tool, launching it on The Tonight Show and many other outlets. In less than five days, more than half a million citizens participated. Tens of thousands more are filling it out every hour. Will universal background checks stop every school shooting and totally end gun violence?

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  Of course not. Even if commonsense gun reform legislation is passed, will it be entirely because of this campaign? No, obviously not. But this campaign will help, and it will make things better. It has the potential to make a little bit of difference, and that's enough, especially if other people, or rather, we, follow its lead. When 90% of Americans are in favor of universal background checks, Blake told us, "It is not a political issue anymore. It is a human issue. We all want to be more safe." All I am trying to do is bring people together to have politicians listen to the people they are supposed to represent, because our voice can be heard when we make

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  it loud enough. It all starts with individual actions, and if enough happen, it cannot be ignored. History shows us that over and over. Stoicism is not political apathy. It's not complete and total emotionlessness either. You can see just how deeply felt Blake's feelings are on this issue when he breaks down crying about it on live television. What stoicism is about is making a difference when we have the ability to make a difference, about reallocating our energy from fruitless anger or self pity and focusing it instead towards productive ends. It's about being strategic and empathetic. "Life is short,"

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  Marcus Aurelius said, "and the fruit of this life is good character and acts for the common good." That's what Blake and Tom Shoes are doing, and more power to them. You can see our full interview with Blake about stoicism at DailyStoic.com. I encourage you to read it. And we urge you to consider using the tool at toms.com to urge your representatives to help in gun violence. I say that as someone who went hunting on the very morning that I am recording this podcast for you. I don't think this is a political issue. I don't think, as someone who is a supporter of the Second Amendment, I don't think that universal background checks represent anything but a common sense protection that will hopefully

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  keep at least some crazy, dangerous people from getting their hands on firearms, or at least making it harder for them to do so. And look, if people can contribute to passing legislation that makes that possible, it won't solve the entire problem, but it won't make things worse. And I think very clearly it will make things better. So go to toms.com and of course, read our interview with Blake, DailyStoic.com.