[1]Don't Be A Snowflake:
A few years ago, conservative commentators in America began using a
term for young college students-mostly liberal-who insisted on
#noplatforming speakers they disagreed with: Snowflakes. It was said
with both a sneer and well-meaning wisdom because the world just
isn't going to work if you think you can block out or censure
everything you find objectionable.
But here's the problem. It's totally _hypocritical. Because on all
sides of the political debate we have this snowflake tendency.
Conservatives freak out now when people question or criticize the
president (indeed, the president himself loves to dish it out, but
complains constantly about having to take it). You'd be amazed at
the number of Donald Trump supporters-the same ones who accuse
liberals of [2]Trump Derangement Syndrome-who send in angry notes to
[3]DailyStoic.com that illustrate not just their inability to deal
with views they disagree with, but also exhibit what ought to be
called _Clinton Derangement Syndrome.
Why point this out?
Because the whole aim of Stoicism is to reduce the amount of offense
we take from things that are outside our control. [4]Remember,
Epictetus says we are complicit when we allow someone to make us
angry, when their words produce a disproportionate reaction from us.
Intellectually, a philosopher has to be someone who can calmly
entertain, consider, and engage with views and ideas different from
their own. The notion that you would love listening to a band and
then turn them off because they "brought politics into it" is
positively infantile, whatever those politics are. Or that you'd
turn away from a friend or a parent because they are on their own
intellectual or social journey. (Or unsubscribe from a free email
you otherwise liked!)
Snowflakes, whether they are on the left or the right, are miserable
because they need the world to be a certain way-their way. They are
constantly at risk of being upset and disturbed because someone
else-someone with views different than their own-has the power to
say or do or think for themselves. A Stoic, on the other hand, is
open-minded and content to let others live and think as they wish.
Not only that, but they relish the opportunity to have their own
views challenged, because they know they grow stronger for it.
Don't be a snowflake. Be a Stoic.
I like this.
I started using the term "snowflake" a long time ago to describe
young adults who were ill prepared for the real world, like the
twenty-something who wanted to bring his mom to a job interview with
me.
Eventually I started using the term to mean anyone, myself included,
who lack emotional or intellectual resiliency.
Once it became a common epithet of trolls and the right, I ditched
it.
My interest in Stoicism developed independently, but I'm happy to
merge the two as Daily Stoic lays out.
__________________________________________________________________
My original entry is here: [5]Don't Be A Snowflake. It posted Sat, 16
Feb 2019 04:43:19 +0000.
Filed under: culture, philosophy,
References
1.
https://dailystoic.com/dont-be-a-snowflake/
2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_derangement_syndrome
3.
https://dailystoic.com/?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=convertkit&utm_campaign=snowflake
4.
https://dailystoic.com/epictetus/?utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=convertkit&utm_campaign=snowflake
5.
https://www.prjorgensen.com/?p=2637
