The Basics of Epicureanism

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From time to time I post information on Epicureanism and what it stands for:

Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based on the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 B.C. It teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquillity, freedom from fear (“ataraxia”) and absence from bodily pain (“aponia”). This combination of states is held to constitute happiness in its highest form, and so Epicureanism can be considered a form of Hedonism, although it differs in its conception of happiness as the absence of pain, and in its advocacy of a simple life.

Epicurus said that this state of tranquillity could be obtained through knowledge of the workings of the world and the limiting of desires. Thus, pleasure was to be obtained by knowledge, friendship and living a virtuous and temperate life. He lauded the enjoyment of “simple pleasures”, by which he meant abstaining from bodily desires, such as sex and appetites, verging on Asceticism. He counselled that “a cheerful poverty is an honourable state”.

He argued for moderation in all things, so that when eating, for example, one should not eat too richly, for it could lead to dissatisfaction later, such as indigestion or the grim realization that one could not afford such delicacies in the future. Likewise, sex could lead to increased lust and dissatisfaction with the sexual partner, and Epicurus himself remained celibate. Even learning, culture and civilization were discouraged, as they could result in disturbing one’s peace of mind, except insofar as knowledge could help rid oneself of religious fears and superstitions, such as the fear of the gods and of death.

Generally speaking, Epicureans shunned politics as having no part in the quest for ataraxia and aponia, and likewise a potential source of unsatisfiable desires and frustration, which was to be avoided.

Like Democritus and Leucippus before him, Epicurus was an Atomist, believing that all matter, souls and gods are all comprised of atoms, and even thoughts are merely atoms swerving randomly.

Epicurus was one of the first to develop a notion of justice as a kind of social contract, an agreement “neither to harm nor be harmed”. He argued that laws and punishments in society are important so that individuals can be free to pursue happiness, and a just law is one that contributes to promoting human happiness. In some respects, this was an early contribution to the much later development of Liberalism and of Utilitarianism.

Forced labour

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Ürümqi, China

The World Uyghur Congress, a group of exiles monitoring the plight of the Muslim minority group in China’s Xinjiang province, has pointed to evidence that Uighur forced labour was used to keep Chinese factory production running at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year.

Uighurs were packed into blacked-out trains and charter flights, and transferred to key technology and textile factories. The scale of the forced migration from the closed “prison province” has been uncovered via videos posted to the Chinese social media site Douyin, and retrieved by exiles. The findings echo those of foreign academics, who have documented the use of Uighur forced labour. More than a million people have been interned in “re-education” camps in Xinjiang in recent years.

My comment: It’s not just the Uighurs. We now discover that the Chinese are already using computerized face recognition (challenging while face masks are being worn!) and listening devices that can track every citizen, monitor their conversations, record where they have been, who they have been with, and what their political opinions are.  This Orwellian, “1984” effort is a dire threat to the Western way of life, infuriating as it is already under the influence of social media.  The latter spy on us, but not yet (comprehensively), as they do in China.  Apparently the Serbian government is now buying and installing this capability.  Maybe other governments are doing so, or will certainly do so.  This is the antithesis of Epicureanism and is truly scary.

If you are not concerned about vigilantes you should be

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Arson,looting and street protests are a volatile enough combination in themselves. But what made the runrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and other US cities even more incendiary is the growing presence of armed vigilantes.

These self-styled militia, or “civilian patrols”, claim to be helping keep the peace, yet their arrival simply makes violence more likely. Witness the killing of two men in Kenosha, allegedly by a 17-year-old vigilante. That Kyle Rittenhouse was able to walk down the street with a semi-automatic rifle on his shoulder was bad enough. But according to news reports, the police didn’t even stop him when protesters shouted that he’d shot someone. Video footage from before the shooting shows an officer tossing water bottles to Rittenhouse and other armed men. “We appreciate you guys,” says the cop. “We really do.”

It always spells trouble when people start taking the law into their own hands. But this is what happens when elected leaders turn a blind eye to lawlessness. Officials have allowed a form of mob rule to take root over the summer in several cities. In the case of Seattle, they allowed rioters to claim control over part of the city for nearly an entire month. The city’s Democratic mayor dismissed it as a “block party”. When leaders fail to keep people safe and prevent property damage, vigilantism is the inevitable result.

The militia-style groups – some of whom are affiliated with the “boogaloo” movement, which wants to foment a civil war – are not out to protect; they’re out to intimidate. Increasingly they’re making their presence felt at events unlinked to any pretence of restoring order. They’ve demonstrated against the removal of Confederate statues; in May, they sought to enter the legislative chamber in Michigan’s state capitol to protest against lockdown measures. This isn’t like the vigilantism America saw during the LA riots of 1992, when some shop owners brandished pistols to protect their businesses. These are partisan groups armed with military-grade weapons, looking for trouble. If President Trump and his allies “don’t turn the temperature down” by regulating their rhetoric, the violence could get a whole lot worse.
(Chicago Sun-Times, National Review, Los Angeles Times and The Week).

My comment: Fascist groups and so-called “strong men” have reappeared. My father and two uncles spent 6 years of their lives putting vicious fascist thugs back in their boxes (also known as coffins). Had governments had the conviction and courage they would never have had to risk their lives. I fear this type of politics,lying and violence, has returned. Young people, read your history! This is not a B movie. Epicurus sought peace of mind and a pleasant, rewarding life – and so should we.

Church bailouts during a pandemic

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (Cares) Act, the 2 trillion dollar bill passed last March, granted forgivable loans to “qualifying businesses and non- profits”. The Small Business Administration, which administered part of the Act, declared (but tried to keep it secret) that houses of worship and religious private schools qualified under the Act, and handed out $ 7.3 billion in taxpayer money to over 88,000 religious organizations. In late July banks started forgiving these “loans”, thus making them grants that don’t have to be repaid. Five hundred church representatives were involved in negotiations over this give-away, along with the White House Faith and Opportunities Initiative team, the surgeon General (for some weird reason), and the Deputy assistant to the President, Jenny Lichner.

Churches and other religious organizations are tax-exempt charities that do not have to disclose their income to the IRS. Not only that, but this whole thing is blatantly unconstitutional (separation of church and state). Church leaders were assured that no strings were attached and that they were still free to discriminate on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation!

But maybe the most obnoxious aspect of this story is that the Catholic church, with 17,000 parishes, got $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with millions going to dioceses that had to pay huge settlements (or sought bankruptcy protection) owing to clergy sexual abuse cover-ups. The Catholic church has, in short, received approval for an estimated 3,500 forgivable loans, while holding property which, in 1918 was valued at half a billion dollars ( yes a hundred years ago!).

We, dear reader, are paying to restore the finances of a church that has been abusing choirboys and others, and was caught doing so.

I don’t think the word “corruption” quite captures what we are seeing, do you?

A Poem about a Tree, now destroyed by a hurricane

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The Strangler Fig tree. at The Moorings, Islamorada:

Were you a harmless, nameless tree, just standing there

Motionless and proud, your boughs spread wide,

The product of a hundred fruitful summers,

Surviving the convulsions of Caribbean hurricanes,

Cold fronts and brisk north winds,

You might neither notice nor much care about

The arrival, perching quietly, of yet another bird.

Thousands stop from year to year,

Resting on their pilgrimage

To Antigua or St. Kitts and back.

You welcome them. They chatter. It passes time.

But be alert! One single bird could be your nemesis,

Sitting, resting, eating lunch – –

A juicy fig from some distantly related tree.

The bird pecks. It flies. You give it no more thought.

But resting in a crevice between your trunk and bough

It might have left behind a single seed,

Worried fiercely from the dark, ripe fig,

Falling ignored and overlooked.

Beware! This solitary seed in good conditions sprouts

And little tendrils grow, vertical and true,

Descend beside your trunk and seek the soil below.

Well, no problem. All are welcome here.

These are the tropics, just hang out, relaxed.

Trees have a long perspective and are cool.

This is not the first parasite you’ve met – –

Vegetable, animal, lichen, fungus.

All in all they bring some mutual benefits

In the relentless struggle for survival.

Lulled into a sense of false security,

You’re pre-occupied with problems common to your kin – –

Nutrients, moisture, humidity, all aspects of dendrology,

Not to mention the weather and condition of your bark.

You fail to see the lurking danger till it’s right upon you.

Suddenly you do become aware!

The roots of your tenant tree have dropped and rooted in the soil,

Thickened and become a tough and healthy wood,

Like pinions or cross-braces screwed into the earth.

Where the aerial roots cross, they fuse and merge,

Creating a hard, thick lattice of stout roots.

It cribs, confines you like a prison.

On windy days you barely move or sway.

You struggle like a ship against a hawser,

Trying to break the bonds that hold you from the sky.

Yes, this crafty Strangler Fig is now in competition

For the nutrients, light, and water you have taken for granted.

You panic, struggle, but to no effect.

You stand there, bound, a prisoner in chains,

Making small, if any gains.

Your visitor’s no vampire, sucking at your blood,

But battens on you, using up your vigor and your strength,

In fruitless struggle, using little effort of its own.

You cease protesting, give in, weaken, rot away.

Where once you stood, a proud and flourishing tree,

There is in time a poor and rotting hulk,

Gently decaying in the Florida half-light,

Attracting the attention of beetles, grubs and other mites,

The vultures and hyenas of the vegetable world.

In your place, your very own spot,

Now stands a sinister, shapeless mass of crisscross roots,

Huge and spreading, center-less, without a form,

Impenetrable, jungle-like and dense.

The irony is that this triumphant Strangler Fig,

By its very nature a thousand rather shallow roots,

Is itself vulnerable, in dire and imminent danger.

Whereas you, its host, withstood the weather for a century,

A serious hurricane might well uproot it, blow it down.

Its roots are insubstantial faced with wind and rain;

They loosen in the meager soil, become unstable and give way.

Thus all will be to no avail; the Strangler strangled where it lies,

Bloated and overgrown, a victim of its own success.

Would it had stayed modest, or remained that single seed,

Worried fiercely from a dark, ripe fig,

Falling ignored and overlooked, not so reckless and ambitious.

Too late! It cannot be revived or disentangled now.

Maybe there is some crude justice in the natural world.

Robert Hanrott, March 2007

(The Strangler Fig is also called the Banyan tree. In India it is also
called the kalpavriksha, or the wish-fulfilling tree, representing eternal
life, because of its host of ever-expanding branches).