Radical Freedom/ Freedom from Striving

Books, Philosophy/Ideas, Simple Life, The Simple Life, Wisdom

 

Daniel Klein in his book Travels with Epicurus describes the fulfilled old man as the man who is free from vacillations and like the Zen Buddhists who are free from “the emptiness of striving.” That is what radical freedom is—i.e., freedom from striving. The reason old age is so good is because by then, hopefully, one has achieved the fulfilled life and the striving is over and the enjoyment is all. One should be living rather than striving. If one has not started living, one must start before its too late.

 

Marcus Aurelius was a 2nd century CE Roman Emperor and also a philosopher.  Like Epicurus he was a Stoic who wrote a book called Meditations, which he wrote for himself, since he said he did not write to get favorable opinions from others.  According to the Stoics, virtue is good and only vice is bad. The things which most of us strive for are really indifferent to our happiness because our lives are not made good or bad by our having or lacking them. That is why things are not important. Living is important.

 

Marcus Aurelius was a bit like Epicurus.  This is what Aurelius said, “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”  Henry David Thoreau had similar views.  He said that he did not want to come to the end of his life to find out that he had not lived at all. To both that was the point. Living life well. Not by striving; by living.  Thoreau also said this:

“Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake,  are so occupied with the fractious cares and superfluous coarse labors of life that is finer fruits cannot be plucked by them.”

 

In a word, too many of us allow striving to interfere with living. Instead we should be content.

 

Of course, in the modern world in particular commercial interests are expert at creating desires for things which will not satisfy us, but will satisfy them!  They will have their desires satisfied by our striving not us. We will never be content by trying to satisfying desires.

 

This is how Daniel Klein described the contented life of Epicurus:

“Epicurus may have predated Madison Avenue by a few millennia, but he already detected the commercial world’s uncanny ability to make us think we need stuff we don’t—and as the world of commerce keeps chugging along, to need ever newer  stuff. But when shopping for the latest thing—usually something we do not really need–Epicurus’s all-important life of tranquil pleasure is nowhere to be found.”

Commercial interests seek to keep us striving for ever more and better and newer stuff, but if we fall for that we will never get off the striving. We will be on a endless spinning cycle that never reaches the goal of contentment. We will never have enough.

 

Epicurus, ever the eloquent Greek put it this way: “Nothing is enough for the man to  whom enough is too little.”

Do you know anyone like that?  I know at least one. A famous president. But there are many like that.

This is wisdom. And radical freedom.

Old Age as the Pinnacle of Life

Books, Philosophy/Ideas, Simple Life, The Simple Life, Wisdom, World of ideas

 

Epicurus said something that was deeply surprising to me. He said that “old age is the pinnacle of life.” How is that possible? Isn’t old age the worst of times? How can it be the best of Times?

 

In his classic manuscript the Vatican Sayings, Epicurus made this profound statement:

 

“It is not the young man who should be considered fortunate but the old man who has lived well, because the young man in his prime wanders much by chance, vacillating in his beliefs, while the old man has docked in the harbor, having safeguarded his true happiness.”

 

Typically, the young man has not done much. He has accomplished little.

 

The old man who has lived the fulfilled life has found the safe harbour away from the storm. He is happy and content. When a person is content it is no longer necessary to strive. One is satisfied. That was the life Epicurus wanted.

 

That is philosophy for old men. Of course, it goes without saying, that this philosophy is also perfect for the old woman as much as the old man.  Epicurus believed in the radical equality of men and women. So I could say, just as well, this is a philosophy for old women.

 

Friendship

Friends, Philosophy/Ideas, Sunsets, Travel

 

Daniel Klein lived for a while on the small Greek island called Hydra and frequently noticed a regular group of old friends who got together in a taverna where they sat on the terrace.  By a strange coincidence I remembered I had spent a couple of hours there on a sunny day in April when I was a young lad with a lovely wife. It was our first European holiday and it was wonderful. But I was a young man. I don’t think I appreciated it enough, even though I always remember it and even though we did not do much on it. It was a short visit. But a spectacular visit with nothing spectacular about it. I think we also sat on the patio of a taverna in the warm Greek sun overlooking the harbour, sipping on a drink in relaxed contentment.

 

Many years later I found out that Leonard Cohen had lived there on that island  for a long time. That was where he met Suzanne and wrote a famous song about her. A beautiful song as only Cohen can write.

 

When Klein was on the island he often sat at the taverna and from time to time noticed this group of old men. One of the old men, would stop to pick up a wild lavender and put it behind his ear and then from time to time removed it, took a sniff of it and returned it to its rightful place behind his year. A simple pleasure. Really the best kind of pleasure. Klein was reading a book of thoughts from the teachings of Epicurus an ancient Greek philosopher.

 

What kept the group together was friendship, laughs and thoughts. Klein spoke about French Philosopher and essayist Michel de Montaigne who had said, “I know the arms of friendship are long enough to reach from one end of the world to the other.” What a great thought. Klein then noted that “Like Epicurus, Montaigne was convinced that friendship, and the good conversation that comes with it, was the greatest pleasure available to us.”

 

Now that I am an old man, I see the wisdom in that. I am lucky to have several groups of friends. Some just men. Others, men and women. All great. All important. Life is a conversation.

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who enjoyed simple pleasures, like sitting around with friends watching the setting sun.

Old Men and a Young Woman

Beauty, Friends, Philosophy/Ideas, Simple Life, Truth and Beauty, World of ideas

 

There was striking scene described by Daniel Klein in his marvelous book Travels with Epicurus. And it involved 4 old men.

 

On another day on a terrace overlooking the Aegean Sea . The 4  friends were enjoying the beautiful warm day and each other. They were “chatting amiably.” But then, something happened.

 

“Then quite abruptly, they all go quiet.  To a man, they are all gazing up at the top of the stone stairs that lead down from the coast path and past the taverna’s terrace. A young woman has appeared there and the wind is pressing against her blouse and skirt and her spending voluptuous body.”

 

Now we know why all the old men are paying so much attention. They may be old but can still appreciate such beauty. Klein continues,

 

“For a moment, she pauses there, perhaps enjoying the warm breeze, but more likely enjoying the effect she is having on the men looking up at her—her personal sirókos effect, indulgence…The young woman is named Elena. She is nineteen years and is a classic Greek beauty with jet-black hair; clear, light olive skin; and large dark, flashing eyes…The old men unabashedly keep their eyes on Elena as she and her grandmother draw near to where they are sitting. When Elena and the old woman are directly in front of them, all the men rise slightly from their chairs and greet them. While saying” “Good Day,” Tasso [one of the men] offers an elegant bow from his none-too supple waist. It is clearly a bow of admiration and gratitude for Elena’s beauty.”

 

The men settle down and start talking about the beautiful women they have known. These are not dreams. These are memories. The memories of old men. Old men can do that. That is what they have.

The men are not dirty old men. They are appreciative and wistful. They still appreciate beautiful women as they did when they were young. They don’t have to be voluptuous either. They know that this is all there is to it and they appreciate her. And they appreciate themselves. They are old. They know that. They are not angry about that. They are wistful, as I said, but accepting.

They can still appreciate the beauty of old women too. And even—believe it or not—old men. Beauty is by no mans confined to the young. At least so I believe, being an old man myself. “Truth is beauty and beauty is truth,” as John Keats said. But it is not just the beauty of youth. Old age too can be beautiful. Old men and old women no longer look like they did in the spring time of their lives, but what they have is still real too. Different but real.

No point in striving for what is gone. That is what counts.  Enjoy what you can. It is holy too.

Travels with Epicurus: A Philosophy for Old Men

Books, Philosophy/Ideas, Sunsets, The Simple Life

 

Now I am an old man, but in my youth, on my first trip to Europe, many years ago,  we visited very briefly 3 islands near Athens. One of those islands was the marvelous island of Hydra.  I remember overlooking its marvelous harbour from the ship when we disembarked. It was a classic view of a Greek island. I was stunned by the beauty. What more could anyone want?

 

On that small island there were no cars. If you needed transportation you could enlist the help of a burro to get you up the surrounding hills. Leonard Cohen had   lived there with hsi muse, the inspiration for that great song Suzanne.

 

Daniel Klein, another old man, wrote a wonderful little book about a month he spent on the island. He called the book, Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in search of a Fulfilled Life. I highly recommend it, for everyone, but particularly old men.  It was given to me by one of my old law partners who  shamelessly avoided following the wise counsel offered in the book.

 

Early in the book Klein describes how, Aegean islanders like to tell a joke about a prosperous Green American who visits one of the islands on a vacation.  Out on a walk, the affluent Greek American comes upon an old Gentleman sitting on a rock, sipping a glass of ouzo and lazily staring at the sun setting into the sea. The American notices there are olive trees growing on the hills behind the old Greek but they are untended, with olives just dropping here and there onto the ground. He asks the old m an who the trees belong to.

 

“They’re mine,” the Greek replies.

“Don’t you gather the olives?” the old Greek asks.

“I just pick one when I want one” the old man says.

“But don’t you realize that if you pruned the trees and picked the olives at their peak, you could sell them? In America everybody is crazy about virgin olive oil, and they pay a dammed good price for it.”

“What would I do with the money? the old Greek asks.

“Why, you build yourself a house and hire servants to do everything for you.’

“And then what would I do?”

“You could do anything you want!”

“You mean, like sit outside and sip ouzo at sunset?”

 

I read this short passage to some friends of mine. One of them said, “If it rains I would rather sit inside this wonderful cabin I have built to keep out of the rain, rather than sit on a rock staring at the sun.”  “True,” I said, but you built it when you were young. Now you are old, you should enjoy what you have built. In rain or in sun. You have done the work, so enjoy the fruits of your labour. Stop striving for more. More, like perfection, is often the enemy of the good.

 

This to my mind sums up the Philosophy of the Greek philosopher Epicurus in a neat nutshell. The Old Greek man was content. He didn’t want to do the striving he did as a young man, to earn a living to support his life. He need not do that anymore. He could sit and drink ouzo and stare at the sunset, because that was what he wanted to do. Young men can’t do that; old men can. Young men must strive; old man have done it.

 

Been there. done that.

 

Donald Trump: The President they Want

Trump, Trumpism

 

A couple of days ago, just past year 1 of Trump’s second term in office as President, a recent poll came out.  It showed his approval rating had dropped to  41%, the lowest since the election of 2024. My first reaction was that this was good news.  My second reaction was this is terrible news. How can that be?

 

First of all, we must remember that Donald Trump is the most famous and most well-known person in the history of the world. He is the news world-wide every single day.  Every word he utters is recorded for all to hear.  He tells us openly, and proudly, everyday who he is and what he stands for.  Everyone knows Donald Trump.  No one can be unaware of who he is or what he wants to do with his immense power.

Yet after all the scandalous, mean, corrupt, disgraceful, racist, near fascist, stupid, ignorant, narcistic, vain, actions he has shown us all, 41% of Americans still love Donald Trump!  Nothing Trump has done changes their devotion. Nothing can be done to eliminate that support of the base. Yes, he has lost some significant support, but millions of Americans still support him despite all that.

I can’t be happy about that.

The Monsters of Unreason

Critical thinking, Death of Truth, Vaccines

 

The Spanish painter Goya labelled one of his paintings with this caption: “The Sleep of Reason brings forth monsters.” I think that is a profound statement that is deeply true. That has become extremely important during the pandemic. It is my belief that in the United States in particular, but including many other countries, it has become painfully obvious that reason has gone to sleep and we have had to suffer the consequences.  We don’t have to look any further than the refusal to use vaccines by millions of people even after the scientific evidence and real-world evidence made it overwhelming clear, that the best chance we had to combat Covid-19 was to take the vaccines. There were no good reasons not to take vaccines in almost all cases. Yet people resisted.  Why was that?

 

I have been talking about the sleep of reason since my second post in this blog. That was long before the pandemic. I was concerned that many people, particularly in the United States, have forsaken evidence-based decisions making, critical reasoning, and thinking obsolete in favor of faith, hunches, feelings, instincts, and ultimately conspiracy theories. It seemed people prefer living in FantasyLand to the real boring world of truth and facts.  Some call this a “post truth world” as it seemed people no longer cared about truth. I believed this was a dangerous development.

 

I have been amazed that it could happen in the United States home to the finest universities and scientists in the world. How could this have happened? In previous posts I have tried to explain why I think this happened. This was a pandemic of unreason long before anyone heard of Covid-19.  Since then, this disease has been delivered to us in high-def and there are no vaccines to save us or mitigate the harms. We just have to suffer. And we are suffering from the monsters of unreason.

Those monsters of unreason are still lurking and are more dangerous than ever

Freedom

Critical thinking, Freedom, Vaccines

 

The first word Carol Off tackles in her book At a Loss for Words, is the word I immediately thought of when I realized what her subject was. Off like me was appalled at how the word “freedom” has been repeatedly hijacked by diverse groups in their own personal interests, at the expense of truth. The one group that came top of mind to me was Canada’s truckers’ convoy and their allies around the country, including Steinbach. To them the word “freedom” has come to mean the capacity to do anything one wants no matter what the consequences to others. Any restraint, no matter how rational is considered an affront to freedom.

 

In Ottawa and across the country the truckers demanded release from the tyranny of government-imposed vaccine mandates, even after those mandates  had been largely eased, while they forgot about the fact that millions of lives had been amazingly protected by those vaccines from a novel virus that was threatening them even though the problems with the vaccines were miniscule to minute compared to the substantial benefits for the vast majority of people.

 

As Carol Off said, “They’ve attempted to repurpose the word for a political agenda that seeks to exclude anyone outside their tribe. For those who have truly escaped the iron hand of oppression, these freedom chants smack of privilege and historical revisionism.”

 

I think she nailed it.