Stoicism, Stockdale, and Solzhenitsyn

 I have never really been one to engage in politics, not because I think I'm really any better than all of that, but because I simply don't have the stomach or the skill for it. I've never figured out how to be diplomatic, or to second-guess. That's one of my fatal weaknesses, I suppose.

I had only ever heard of James Stockdale in vague passing as some sort of war hero, and sadly knew little about him before his entry into politics. I was twenty-two, and he was suddenly Ross Perot's VP Candidate.

He became the laughing-stock on SNL and for all of my deeply sophisticated Boston friends. I shamefully admit I played right along, because it is easier to ridicule than to respect, to condemn than to understand. He opened his VP Candidate Debate by asking "Who Am I? Why Am I Here?"  We thought it was senility. It turns out it may been have the words of a true philosopher.

A Navy pilot, Stockdale spent over seven years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, constantly abused and tortured beyond what most of us could ever imagine. He credits his survival to Stoicism, specifically to Epictetus.  His story is worth far more than I can do it credit. If you are able and willing, learn about him, regardless of your politics. It's much bigger than politics.

Here are a few of his own words:

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"On September 9, 1965, I flew at 500 knots right into a flak trap,
at tree-top level, in a little A-4 airplane--the cockpit walls not
even three feet apart--which I couldn’t steer after it was on fire, its
control system shot out. After ejection I had about thirty seconds
to make my last statement in freedom before I landed in the main
street of a little village right ahead. And so help me, I whispered
to myself: 'Five years down there, at least. I’m leaving the world of
technology and entering the world of Epictetus.'

" 'Ready at hand' from The Enchiridion as I ejected from that
airplane was the understanding that a Stoic always kept separate files
in his mind for (A) those things that are 'up to him' and (B) those
things that are 'not up to him.' Another way of saying it is (A)
those things that are 'within his power' and (B) those things that
are 'beyond his power.' Still another way of saying it is (A) those
things that are within the grasp of 'his Will, his Free Will' and (B)
those things that are beyond it. All in category B are 'external,'
beyond my control, ultimately dooming me to fear and anxiety if I
covet them. All in category A are up to me, within my power,
within my will, and properly subjects for my total concern and
involvement. They include my opinions, my aims, my aversions,
my own grief, my own joy, my judgments, my attitude about what
is going on, my own good, and my own evil.

"To explain why 'your own good and your own evil' is on that
list, I want to quote Alexander Solzhenitsyn from his Gulag book.
He writes about that point in prison when he realizes the strength
of his residual powers, and starts what I called to myself 'gaining
moral leverage'; riding the updrafts of occasional euphoria as you
realize you are getting to know yourself and the world for the first
time. He calls it 'ascending' and names the chapter in which this
appears 'The Ascent':

" 'It was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that I sensed
within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to
me that the line separating good and evil passes not between states
nor between classes nor between political parties, but right through
every human heart, through all human hearts. And that is why I
turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to
the astonishment of those about me, 'Bless you, prison, for having
been a part of my life.'

"I came to understand that long before I read it. Solzhenitsyn
learned, as I and others have learned, that good and evil are not
just abstractions you kick around and give lectures about and attribute
to this person and that. The only good and evil that means
anything is right in your own heart, within your will, within your
power, where it’s up to you.  

"Enchiridion 32: 'Things that are not within our own power, 

not without our Will, can by no means be either good or evil.'

"Discourses: 'Evil lies in the evil use of moral purpose, 

 and good the opposite. The course of the Will determines
good or bad fortune, and one’s balance of misery and happiness.' In
short, what the Stoics say is 'work with what you have control of
and you’ll have your hands full.' "

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But please do read the whole thing for yourself:

http://media.hoover.org/sites/default/files/documents/StockdaleCourage.pdf

Written on 7/28/2004