Stoicism and asceticism: an odd love in the time of corona
It's July 2020, and we are in the middle of what is conceivably the most devastating period in world history. We are experiencing health deterioration not seen since the 1918 flu pandemic, economic distress comparable to that of the Great Recession, unemployment levels reaching almost as high as Great Depression levels, and social unrest mirroring the momentous unrest of the 1960s (think Civil Rights Movement, anti-Vietnam, Hippie culture, and May 68). While governments signal panic alarms in forlorn attempts to bring order back to the frail world, the responsibility falls on our shoulders--the people--to survive this era. This understandably marks an opportune time to instate 'stoic' attitudes within us. To many people, the word 'stoic' has been thrown in conventional English usage to denote a characteristic of resiliency. A 'stoic person'* is one who, under immense pressure and distress, does not buckle down, and holds his or her head high. From the looks
