More Food for Thought
on Ancient and Modern Democracy
and Respectful Discourse

#6 The Effect of Respect

(6 May 2022)

The litmus test of our democratic maturity is our reaction to opinions we do not share. Disrespect is not limited to rude responses, but it includes the reluctance to pay attention. In contrast, the willingness to listen to inconvenient views and to engage with arguments challenging our own are the signs of respect. Respectful encounters give real dialogue a chance, and with this comes the potential of sustainable solutions or balanced compromise. But even if we fail to achieve this now, trust may still be built, and perhaps the next dialogue will take us closer to agreement.

For an extended version of my thoughts on respect, you may read my blog in support of the Green Party candidate Shefaza Esmail in the 2022 Provincial Elections.

#5 Becoming Political or Staying in the Private Comfort Zone?

(16 January 2022)

In my childhood and youth, I often dreamt of becoming a politician. I was hoping to be elected to a position of power to help improve the world. …

Want to read more about how the advice of Zenon and Epicurus (#2) - and implicitly also Solon (#4) - have played out in my life (so far)? Then click here.

#4 Who Is the Idiot?

(15 January 2022)

The statesman Solon was asked to heal the strong divide in Athens in 594 BCE. The essence of his reform was to ‘invent’ the middle class as an anchor of stability. He made it a law that in times of unrest, no citizen should remain neutral, hoping that the vast majority would choose the less radical and more fair-minded party. In the mid-5th century BCE, the first democracy of the world had made Athens into the most thriving city of Greece. In this, a citizen who cared more about his private affairs than the wellbeing of the state was called ‘privateer’, or, to use the Greek term, ‘idiot(es)’. To put it more politely: indifference should not be an option when our society is being torn apart.

#3 On Respect

by Monika Wieder, Waterloo, ON (8 January 2022)

To guarantee respect doesn't mean to eliminate conflicts but to provide the ability to face them and manage them in a democratic way.

#2 Two Alternative Reasons for Engaging in Politics Given in Seneca’s On Leasure (3.2)

(8 January 2022)

Two schools in particular disagree about this matter, the Epicureans and the Stoics, but both direct their students to leisure on different ways. Epicurus says: “The Wise does not engage in politics, unless something inconvenient happens.” Zenon says: “He engages in politics, unless something prevents him from doing so.”

The one seeks leisure out of principle, the other due to an inconvenient necessity. The former reason (for devoting oneself to leisure) is very clear: if the Republic is corrupt to a level that it is beyond healing, if it is in the grip of evils, then the Wise will not make a stand in vain and waste his efforts without being of any use. (And) if he has only little authority or influence; if the political establishment is not willing to let him join; if health hinders him, he will not embark on a way that he knows he cannot manage, just as he would not set sail on ship shaken (by storm) or enlist his name for military service unless at good health.

Click here for the original Latin text.

#1 On Friendship and Democracy

(3 January 2022)

Arguably the most important philosopher of the ancient world, Aristotle, once said that the essence of democracy is friendship - the glue that binds a society together. While we need not be friends with our political opponents, we should (learn to) respect them, at least as long as they show respect for the law. I admit that this is challenging, but I promise that it is a worthwhile endeavour.

Source: Aristotle, Politics VII 4 (1325b-1326b).