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Donald Trump, a Stoic perspective
How does the 47th President of the United States fare when it comes to virtue?
The word “politics” comes from the Greek politikos, meaning “pertaining to public life.” In turn, that term is derived from polis, referring to a city or community. That’s why when I hear people say that they don’t engage in politics I want to ask them why they don’t give a damn about their community.
But I get it. These days, unfortunately, the term “politics” has become essentially synonymous with partisanship, and I do agree that partisanship is bad, because it tends to close people’s minds to dialogue, instead entrenching their positions as part of their personal identity. Which explains the otherwise puzzling phenomenon of people taking criticism of a particular policy as a personal attack and therefore “offensive.”
My regular readers might have noticed that I usually stay away from direct political commentary. That’s not because I don’t have opinions, of course. Rather, it’s for two reasons: (i) I don’t believe I have anything original or particularly insightful to offer on the matter; and (ii) given the currently extremely partisan atmosphere it seems like I would simply risk losing some people and otherwise preaching to the choir.
