Stoic versus capitalist conceptions of the doctrine of indifferents

Today (May 1st), I want to commemorate all the victims of communism — past and present — from all over the world. The myriad moral evils committed in the name of “equality” and “brotherhood” never cease to amaze me. The Daily Stoic, a popular Internet platform created by Ryan Holiday (see here), sums up Stoicism in one sentence as follows: “A Stoic believes they don’t control the world around them, only how they respond–and that they must always respond with courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice.” (Daily Stoic, 4 Feb 2019) I will therefore start off my survey of Stoicism with the most famous Stoic moral precept of all: the crucial distinction between things that are in one’s power–i.e., one’s actions, thoughts, beliefs, desires, and judgments, all of which are entirely under one’s control–and externals or “indifferents” (ἀδιάφορον), such as one’s reputation, social status, and other people’s actions, none of which are ultimately under our control. This distinction is so crucial for…