Deliberately Diverse represents the individual thoughts and opinions of a group of Taylor friends who almost never completely agree about anything but are gratified by the opportunity to stimulate deliberately diverse discussions in our beloved community.
Today’s column represents the thoughts and opinions of The Reverend Jim Newman, NOT the Taylor Press.
It’s election season again. Next week, we’re voting for our Taylor City Council member At-large. Selecting city council members are perhaps the most significant political choices we make, because their choices will affect our daily lives more than those of any other elected officials. As we engage in campaigns, we might reflect on what this exercise in political participation is all about, and our roles in it.
For guidance, I could turn to a current political philosopher, or one of the founding fathers.
Instead, I’m looking back to the roots of democracy and the counsel of the Greco-Roman stoic Epictetus.
After Emperor Domitian expelled all philosophers from Rome, Epictetus lived the simple life of a teacher in Greece, where his lectures were transcribed by his students.
Epictetus’ philosophy was built upon four cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, courage and moderation, and the stoic understanding that we can only control ourselves, not other people.
According to Epictetus, self-control, restraining our passions when we don’t get the result we want, is an important tool for navigating the political process. We can’t control how life treats us, but we can control what we make of it. A corollary to keeping calm, Epictetus says, is to remain flexible and open to new information presented to us in the political process. Another corollary to self-control is not to allow others to overly upset us, for that effectively surrenders control of our thoughts and actions to them.
Our political opponents might be wrong, but they might not be completely wrong, and being wrong doesn’t make them bad people. This is especially important to remember in local election contests, because our opponents are our neighbors. We should bring a spirit of tolerance and generosity to politics.
Epictetus also warns us not to trade our most treasured asset, our integrity, for political power or electoral success. “Destroying the good citizen and friend in me,’ he says, “is no help to me, to the city or to my neighbors.” That doesn’t mean we should never compromise, but we need to keep our objectives in perspective, and not sacrifice our integrity to achieve them. We need to be flexible in the political arena, as in all our endeavors, while maintaining our integrity, and guided by the cardinal virtues of a worthy life.
Participating in the community’s political life is one of the obligations of good citizenship. Epictetus says that when death arrives, he wants to have done “something proper for a human being—something benevolent, something that contributes to the common good.”
Participation in public life requires generosity and tolerance, honorable conduct, and devotion to the common good. We’re all in this together.
