How Notions of Virtue Apply In Today’s World (Or Fail To)
From “The Daily Stoic“:
U.S. General Fox Connor would tell his young protege Dwight D. Eisenhower: “Always take your job seriously, never yourself.” It’s a paradoxical truth: The responsibilities thrust upon you are important and your duty to those you lead or serve is everything, yet where these roles take you-—be it to power or wealth or fame-—says nothing about you.
Think about Eisenhower and why this advice would come to be so important. He would come to command one of the largest armies ever assembled. As president, he would possess the capacity to destroy civilizations at the touch of a button. He looked at these responsibilities with grave seriousness. Yet with himself and with friends, he was just Ike, a fallible human being doing the best he could. He was willing to give up that military power to become a civilian when the time came. At one point, he offered not to run for president if the parties in power would simply agree to a few basic commitments to the ideals he had just fought so hard to defend. And his rule as a politician? “Never engage in personalities.” Meaning he never attacked anyone personally and never got into pointless battles of ego.
Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself to avoid the “imperial stain” or “to avoid imperialization.” ….. Work very hard and hold ourselves to the highest standards of excellence…but at the same time, don’t let it change us, corrupt us or make us forget that we are fallible humans, trying to do our best.
Yikes! Is it possible to read this and not be struck (horrified) by the contrasts of our world just 57 years after Eisenhower?
This is precisely why two-thirds of Americans are disgusted with their president and terrified by what he may he may do if allowed to complete his term if office. If he cared a whit about the responsibilities of his position, he wouldn’t be brazenly profiting from his position, destroying the environment to profit the mega-wealthy, wrecking public schools and healthcare, eroding women’s and minority rights, and ramming through tax reform that will almost exclusively benefit the super-rich.
At the same time, have you ever seen a person more thin-skinned, more vindictive against those who speak out against him, and more willing to invent bald-faced lies in ludicrous attempts at self-aggrandizement that any five-year-old can see through?
Our civilization has been attuned to the importance of good character since its earliest days. I’d like to think we’ve built upon that over time, but it sure doesn’t appear that way.
