Slow Fashion: The Importance of Paying for the World We Value

​Fun Fact: My most popular "Stoic" post has to do with my underwear.

You've likely heard about the factory collapse tragedy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. ​There are multiple reasons that horrible events like this one happen but, outside of the effect of gravity, they are all human generated reasons. There is no shortage of knowledge to design nor ability to construct safe buildings, there is only a lack of willingness. One of the widest reaching and most troubling reasons for this aspect of industry is the modern ability to systematically avoid paying the true cost of the items we purchase. From our clothes and mobile phones to our food, we invest in industries that cut corners at the expense of other human beings, present and future. Flint and Tinder founder, ​Jake Bronstein, recently posted about Slow Fashion v. Fast Fashion, which discusses this from the point of view of the clothing industry. I support his company, in part, because it allows me to step outside of this corner-cutting system. I believe it is incumbent on me, as a Stoic, to participate in the advancement of human affirming systems whenever possible.

Stoicism challenges us to expand our view of the world. We are to see ourselves as intimately connected to the universe and never as islands set apart. The Discipline of Action, in particular, demands that our choices be made for the common welfare of humankind. Marcus Aurelius expressed it this way,

Your only joy, and your only rest, is to pass from one action performed in the service of the human community to another act performed in the service of the human community, together with the remembrance of God. (VI, 7)

​One of my favorite features of the Stoic philosophy is it recognizes that rational thinking leads us towards others, not apart. Lived Stoicism is not an egocentric experience. It can sound that way, as much of our practice is directed inward while we wrestle with our own minds. However, when we win out over false impressions of the world we are meant to be freed to be active within it. Conquering desire and fear, we take actions that build a just and wise society. Those actions can cost us in reputation and reward. Sometimes it can hurt the pocketbook. What's that matter? The only good is virtue anyway.

Stoic Progress: The Blame Game

"It is not circumstances themselves that trouble people, but their judgments about those circumstances. For example, death is nothing terrible, for if it were, it would have appeared so to Socrates; but having the opinion that death is terrible, this is what is terrible. Therefore, whenever we are hindered or troubled or distressed, let us not blame others, but ourselves, that is, our own judgments. The uneducated person blames others for their failures; those who have just begun to be instructed blame themselves; those whose learning is complete blame neither others nor themselves."

-Ch. 5 of Epictetus' Handbook

Measuring progress in a lived philosophy isn't necessarily simple. Stoicism is meant to establish a "good flow of life" in its adherents. For instance, a person who is living well will be calm in the face of adversity, if not joyful. They will also use their skills to benefit their community, and seek to expand the very idea of community as wide as possible. The impact of lived Stoicism should be apparent to all but, because of its holistic nature, can sometimes be difficult to point out, even to ourselves. We are often more comfortable with a simple checklist.

Unfortunately, when something can be itemized, it's often not very useful as a measure of progress. It is far too easy to turn to false indicators (number of books read, quotes memorized, or arguments won) as a gauge of success. Even a positive indicator can be misleading. I may maintain a calm demeanor all day, not because I stoically accept the world warts and all, but because I wasn't faced with any potential obstacles to my tranquility. Thankfully, every once in a while an ancient Stoic points to an indicator that is hard to fake.

The uneducated person blames others for their failures; those who have just begun to be instructed blame themselves; those whose learning is complete blame neither others nor themselves. 

Epictetus says that Stoics blame themselves for moral failures. That's pretty cut and dried. As long as I am honest with myself, I can review my weak moments and see who or what I blamed. Did I claim that, "the traffic made me angry"? Was my co-worker, "so frustrating"? If so, I wasn't approaching those events as a Stoic. If I instead told myself, "I shouldn't have become angry today in traffic," or,"why did I decide to frustrate myself just because Jake can't do his job," then I messed up in the moment, but I recovered. Taking the blame is, in itself, a sign of progress. If I go a step further and avoid any anger and frustration in the first place, all the better! By the way, Stoics don't blame themselves for the events that are happening to them. Traffic isn't my fault. We do, however, accept control over our reaction to life. Our reactions, based in our judgement of the situation, are firmly in the moral sphere.

So if you're trying to live the Stoic life, where are you placing blame? Epictetus says it's all on you. If you're like me, you might prefer to skip the blame game and move on to living blamelessly, but let's face it, that's not going to happen. It is not circumstances themselves that trouble people, but their judgments about those circumstances.  That is a fundamental truth of our philosophy. It takes daily work to internalize it. If we don't, we won't have a good flow of life, and there will be no one to blame but ourselves. 

Michel Daw on Indifference

Michel Daw, stoic teacher, wrote a great piece on indifference titled, The Truth about Stoic Indifference. Linking to it is my Stoic Saturday action.

The thing is, I was actually writing my own post on indifference when Mr. Daw posted his thoughts in our G+ Community. He said much of what I wanted to say, and better, so I'm sitting this weekend out in deference.

Stoics use the term indifference differently than most. In Stoicism, there is the moral sphere of virtue and vice and then there are indifferents. These indifferents, in themselves, have no moral value. So indifference is not a posture that we hold towards the world, it's a category that we use to evaluate our environment. Some things are indifferent, some aren't. Anyway, check out Michel Daw's post, he knows what he's talking about.