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In October 1881, violence spilled out into the streets of Tombstone, Arizona. The conflict had been stewing for months, but the pretext was legal wrangling over whether guns could be carried in town. It took 30 seconds and 30 shots, but it launched Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday into history.

Does it take a bit of the sheen off the legend of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral to know that, 132 years later, law enforcement is still squabbling over this exact same issue with the residents of that same town? Indeed, this article from the Arizona Republic (which was founded in 1890) reads as if it could have been published about Wyatt Earp’s struggle to enforce his firearms law in Tombstone’s saloons. Instead, it was published in February 2020.

We’ve talked about how time is a flat circle, that per the Stoics, history is the same thing happening over and over again. You could change a few words from today’s report about the latest pandemic numbers and split them unnoticed into Gibbon’s recounting of the Antonine Plague. You could take the latest leak out of Washington or the White House and convince somebody it was from Tacitus’ recounting of Nero’s regime, just as you can take Seneca’s descriptions of a noisy day in Rome (as opens Stillness Is the Key) and publish it in a New York Times story as a contemporary report.

With all the change of history, with all the progress we’ve made, we’re still people. Places are still places, cultures still cultures—with all their unique tendencies, flaws, and patterns. We like to think we’re so different, that we’ve so moved on from the past, but have we? This is why the Stoics said we needed to understand human nature, it’s why we needed to understand history.

Don’t go around being surprised or shocked at the dumb things people do or the evil they are capable of. Your expectations must be realistic. You must also be prepared and ready to protect yourself. Because people are people and places are places, and they’re going to go on being that way for as long as life continues on this planet.

What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence” – Christopher Hitchens

This Is Why You Can’t Care What People Think
It seems silly to read that Cato had practice wearing ratty clothes and walking barefooted and bareheaded. How much courage does that take? To defy convention or people glancing askew?

Well, it turns out, quite a bit.

Look at the backlash that’s going on right now in the United States. People are afraid. Not of the pandemic… but of wearing masks. Because they think they’ll look stupid. Because they don’t want to look different or change how people act around them. Because they think it’ll be inconvenient or uncomfortable. There are some folks on the extreme end of the spectrum who deep down are so afraid of what people will think of them that they’re trying to label the people who do wear masks as “cowards.” Even in the early days of the virus, it’s likely that health and government authorities were reluctant to advise mask use for fear of looking like they were “overreacting” or freaking people out.

Meanwhile, over at The Atlantic, we have the facts:

Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease.

Life presents us with all sorts of dilemmas. Every choice we make has a risk. Ask a question—you can learn or possibly be thought of as dumb. Leave a steady job to start your own venture—you could succeed or you could fail in front of everyone. Speak what you feel is the truth—you could make a difference or you could get yelled at. Take safety precautions—you could protect yourself and your family or you could look foolish.

It would be wonderful if this weren’t the case. If no right behavior ever drew judgement or raised eyebrows. But that’s not how the world works. It was a fact of life in ancient Rome and it’s a fact in the modern world. Which is why you have to cultivate real indifference to what other people say or think. It’s why you have to practice swimming upstream and against reservations—even against your own.

You cannot care what other people think. You have to do what’s right and what’s smart. Wouldn’t you rather be laughed at than dead?-- the Daily Stoic

COMMENTS

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ThexAngelxMianna
03:39 Jul 26 2020

Very good piont, I wear my mask because it only takes once to bring it home to your family and you never know if you ammune system is strong enough to fight off something that seems to be changing to do its job make the host sick or kill them.

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You may get by in life without a Definite Major Purpose, but you will never get ahead. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Financial goals in particular should be specific, definite, and measurable. You should know what you plan to earn, by when, and how you plan to do so. The greatest advantage of financial security is the peace of mind that comes from knowing that, whatever challenges life brings, you are equipped to deal with them. You will be better at whatever you choose to do because you can focus on opportunities instead of struggling to eke out a living.--Napoleon Hill

Wow did i fall down into a couple of holes today. Maybe tomorrow I will walk around the holes

The is a person on here that I don't like. A despicable human being who uses subterfuge and lies to get what she wants You are a snowflake and you don't stand for anything. If these words are too big for you that is because you paint by numbers. You are numb dumb and just plain unlikable. Let's go out in the schoolyard and have some fun. No one likes you and no one is happy around you. So as they used to say go jump in the lake before i send the hoards you speak of after your fat ass you idjoit.

Beware the quiet man. For while others speak, he watches. And while others act, he plans. And when they finally rest…he strikes."

Anonymous

Beware the quiet man. For while others speak, he watches. And while others act, he plans. And when they finally rest…he strikes."

Anonymous

Well it is a good day to rebuild!!!

I am grateful to be part of this team

Team,

Our numbers have dwindled, but I'm so proud of all you hardcore members that have never given up on our goal of 22 million burpees in honor our vets that have sacrificed so much for us.

We are now 30 months into this challenge, and you have not received an update since the beginning of the year, before Covid altered our daily lives.

As of June 30, 2020, I have our total at 21,272,350 BURPEES!
The goal is in sight, and we are on pace in 2020 to reach 22 million.

You have all been relentless! Let's bring it home!

With Gratitude,

Jon


--
Jon Atwater, Ph.D.
Chief Administrative Officer
Courage Foundation
(858) 964-8683

I got this from a friend today thought I would share because it deals with consequences.

Hey ,

Here’s a real story from our student.

It’s a very tough question.

Usually I cut the question down, but I feel like it’s appropriate to show you the whole thing:

“Denver Colorado, three years ago. A friend of mine (we were both Rangers in Vietnam) was out for his 60th birthday celebration with friends. They all decided to leave the restaurant where they had dinner and return to his house for cake and drinks. They separated and headed for their cars.

Bill’s car was in the dark parking lot next to the restaurant. He was about fifteen feet from his car when two men stood up between two cars and advanced toward him. One was carrying an aluminum baseball bat.

Bill stopped and stood there, waiting for them to move. They did. Bill stayed next to the brick building as the two men came at him. As the man with the bat stepped closer and raised it to swing, Bill stepped in and grabbed the man by the head — Bill is six-foot-three and 260 lbs. — he kneed the man in the groin and yanked his head around, tossing him into the wall.

The second man hit Bill in the head with his fist. Bill reached out and grabbed the man by the throat, turned him around and slammed him into the brick building with such force that it cracked his skull, dropping him.

The whole encounter took maybe ten seconds. The two men never said a word. Someone from the group he was with saw the fight and called the police. They arrived several minutes later. Bill thought it was all over… But really, it was just starting.

The man with the bat — when Bill grabbed him and swung him around into the wall — the force of the move cracked the man’s neck. He lived for three days on life support, then died. The second, whose head was smashed into the wall, suffered brain damage. He can’t talk clearly, or walk a straight line.

The local Assistant DA filed Manslaughter charges against Bill when the first man died. Bill was arrested, booked and charged. The case was tossed out by the District Attorney, apologies made, charges dropped and his record cleared, but the damage was done.

For two years, the families of the two men filed civil actions against Bill for wrongful death and grievous bodily harm. It took two years, but both suits were tossed out by the judge.

Two years, over $24,000 in legal fees, and being arrested for defending yourself in a two-against-one fight for your life.

How does one ‘survive’ that? How does someone, who fought for his very life, survive the outcome of his actions by a public that is all too ready to blame the winner? The fact that he, Bill, was a combat vet in Vietnam didn’t help his case any. What most people don’t realize is that we survived by using such force, such tactics, that there is no ‘stopping’ once contact is made. If you stop — you die.

But how do we survive the aftermath?”

Some people didn’t like the answer I gave.

But it’s a truth worth thinking about.

Best Regards,

Profile Image Tim Larkin
Founder
Target Focus Training
timlarkin@targetfocustraining.com
targetfocustraining.com