Stoicism was the most pratical philosophy in pre-christian european antiquity. Its four cardianl vertues were wisdom, courage, moderation and justice. In addition the stressed on self-improvement and rigid social morality. Maybe some should organise an party which should think on the improvement of the qualities of the leadership, so that it can promote and defend its principles. In my opinion the leaders of the next chapter in world’s history should at first prove their capabilities to govern if they want to be elected, because even more opportunist clowns (also called populists) have taken pover in many countries and making politics and policies more broken. The fictive simplicity of their alternative reality made them blind to accept the truth and its complexity. No complex problem can be solve by hazard, but by understanding the nature of the issues. Leadership should not break up with wisdom but should – when leaders should decide on important laws – listen to those which opinion contains experience and long elaborated studies. Courage and moderation are also a traits of character which should be thought like knowledge and rational thinking. Everything is a skill which should be trained. Leaders should not only know the judiciary system or how to perform rhetoric but also how to sharpen their mind and willpower. They should not bo brainless and volatile when they take important decisions for the people they represent.

One of the principes of democratic stoicism, is also how to reconcile the rights of the individuals with the rights of the community. One idea of this concept is the new conversion of ultra-individualistic mentalities, like in cities of Paris or London, through crisis into the ideas of a commonwealth in the sense, that there are common laws, common norms and common resposabilities. I choosed to be a modern stoic, because their value rational thinking, temporal planning, moderation, selfleadership, selfdiscipline, consolation and serenity of the soul, a strict sense of justice and the idea of morality in the aspect of the higher common good.

The stoic school was founded by Zeno of Kition and had many generations of tradition, but wasn’t very attractive in ancient Greece. While the Greeks were rather keen to the epicurean philosophy the strict and regirous stoic philosphy found many follwers in ancient Rome. While Cicero is arguably the most well-known stoic philospher of the roman republic, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were best-known stoic philosophers during the golden age of the roman empire (i.e. the roman principate).

The rational lifestyle is for example not to believe in everything a charismatic and hot-heathen leader says, as it is these days often the case with the populist movements. The rational proposals that a stoic can give to the leaders of tomorrow are also discussed in the philosophical books of the modern greek philosopher Alkistis Agio, which gives councils to CEOs with good feed-back for more than twenty years. In the comming weeks I will read and learn some lessons from these modern stoic philosopher with his best-selling book „From fear to Freedom“. Maybe I can get some ideas for a new stoic political philosphy.

Julien Sita, 3rd february 2021.