Fearful Time

Stoicism talks about not to worry about the external events that one has no control of.
Epictetus said, "Some things are in our control, while others are not. We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion and in a word, everything of our own doing. We don't control our body, property, reputation, position, and in a word everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own."
As the world entered into the human invented calendar year 2020, the drumbeats of war are reverberating, from one crazy theocratic and dictatorship based nation to another that unfortunately has a commander in chief who shows brazen instability in his words and actions.

Stoicism says not to worry about the external events as an ordinary man or woman does not have any control over it, however, it brings more stress. Stoicism has good point. Does it mean one cannot even raise the voice when the very external events bring the world to the brink of another devastating war?

I have been paying least possible attention to American President Donald Trump as possible last two years or so after observing first two years of his obnoxious and volatile public behavior where he incited violence and hatred toward every kind of vulnerable segments of society and also emboldened other despots in other nations.What baffles me more is the steadfast support he still garners from his adamant supporters who takes everything he utters as the sweetest divine words.

Donald Trump is in trouble. He was impeached by American Congress controlled by Democratic party, though he holds the executive power as US Senate hasn't made its decision yet, though the outcome of that decision by the Republican party controlled Senate is possibly quite apparent as was the case for the outcome by the Democratic party controlled Congress.

Now from the outset it looks like he is trying his best starting a war with Iran.

Iran is a nation run by dictatorial theocracy more than 40 years now. The last American president Barack Obama worked with American allies like United Kingdom, Germany, France and other nations and had negotiated a deal with Iran where economic sanctions were lifted on Iran for its commitment not to pursue nuclear based technologies, including creating horrifying nuclear weapons. After Donald Trump came to power, he nullified that agreement as if making an agreement and commitment among sovereign nations do not matter anymore. Like the pulling back from the Climate Change deal, Donald Trump and his party in power has backed away from a very real chance of bringing the theocracy based Iran in the fold of peaceful international community, denying it the chance to modernize and possible path toward democracy.

The path to democracy has never been easy for any nations that I know of. It is always filled with blood and gory and marred with violence. However, this is probably not a far fetched idea that if that nuclear deal was maintained, and no economic sanctions were placed upon Iran, then the theocratic dictatorship of Iran quite possibly would have collapsed by the pressure from its citizens' fair demand for a more free society and accountable government.

Now an Iranian general was killed by American drone attack along with Iraqi casualties, and Iran has struck American military bases inside Iraq using ballistic missiles, thus taking the entire scenario in a very volatile and unpredictable stage where the hope for peace is diminishing fast. Just now an Ukrainian civilian plane crashed in Iranian capital Tehran just after lifting off and possibly all 180 passengers died. The timing of this crash just after Iran sent a dozen of ballistic missiles targeting military bases in Iraq is a suspect to the least.

Is the world turning into a lawless jungle?

I do not know the answer to this primitive question, but I wish that American president Donald Trump and Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei look into the following dictum from the stoic Epictetus and take it to their apparently cold heart to find a wise solution out of this fearful time:
"The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.....


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