The Most Important Political Decision of the Century
On the morning of Wednesday, September 28, 2022, I found a newsletter in my inbox with a curious title, so I clicked. It began as follows:
It was long ago now that Hercules came to the crossroads.
At a quiet intersection in the hills of Greece, in the shade of knobby pine trees, the great hero of Greek myth first met his destiny.
Where exactly it was or when, no one knows. We hear of this moment in the stories of Socrates. We can see it captured in the most beautiful art of the Renaissance. We can feel his budding energy, his strapping muscles, and his anguish in the classic Bach cantata. If John Adams had had his way in 1776, Hercules at the crossroads would have been immortalized on the official seal of the newly founded United States.1
This is the beautiful writing of Ryan Holiday—an American author, modern Stoic, owner of the Painted Porch Bookshop, and host of the podcast The Daily Stoic. I found it uniquely odd that I was reading about Hercules. Not ten days earlier, I read a different newsletter that told a story of the dysfunctional nature of American politics using—guess who? Hercules! This will show up in Common Sense Paper No. 4, so hold on for that connection to unfold.
One more thing before we continue with this story. In Common Sense Paper No. 1, we discussed the Great Seal of the United States and how “E Pluribus Unum” had great significance then, just as it has enormous significance to our national politics now. But I think we can learn something from a possible runner-up for the Great Seal. Let’s continue with the Holiday newsletter.
Because there, before the man’s undying fame, before the twelve labors, before he changed the world, Hercules faced a crisis, one as life-changing and real as any of us have ever faced.
Where was he headed? Where was he trying to go? That’s the point of the story. Alone, unknown, unsure, Hercules, like so many, did not know.
Where the road diverged lay a beautiful goddess who offered him every temptation he could imagine. Adorned in finery, she promised him a life of ease. She swore he’d never taste want or unhappiness or fear or pain. Follow her, she said, and his every desire would be fulfilled.
On the other path stood a sterner goddess in a pure white robe. She made a quieter call. She promised no rewards except those that came as a result of hard work. It would be a long journey, she said. There would be sacrifice. There would be scary moments. But it was a journey fit for a god. It would make him the person his ancestors meant him to be.
Was this real? Did it really happen?
If it’s only a legend, does it matter?
Yes, because this is a story about us. It’s about you. About your dilemma. About your own crossroads. And about the choice you decide to make.2
Since this is a political pitchbook, we need to think about the choices we are asked to make. In the land of elections, we are handed choices that come from genuinely involved party bases which appear to represent a subset of the American people with less and less overlap. For many Americans, it’s simply a choice between the lesser of two evils—and that’s sad! Back to the story.
Like Hercules, it’s the choice between vice and virtue, intemperance and temperance, the easy way and the hard way, the well-trodden path and the road less traveled.
We all face this choice.3
In fact, politicians routinely offer us this choice. “Vote for me, vote for my party, and we will solve problems that will make your life easier.” “Vote for the other candidate (the other party and pathway), and your path will become unbearable—life will be awful!”
Hesitating only for a second, Hercules chose the one that made all the difference.
He chose virtue. “Virtue” can seem old-fashioned. Yet virtue—arete—translates to something very simple and very timeless: Excellence. Moral. Physical. Mental.
In the ancient world, virtue was comprised of four key components.
Courage
Temperance
Justice
Wisdom
The “touchstones of goodness,” the philosopher king Marcus Aurelius called them. To millions, they’re known as the cardinal virtues, four near-universal ideals adopted by Christianity and most of Western philosophy, but equally valued in Buddhism, Hinduism, and just about every other philosophy you can imagine. They’re called “cardinal,” C. S. Lewis pointed out, not because they come down from church authorities but because they originate from the Latin cardo, or hinge.
It’s pivotal stuff. It’s the stuff that the door to the good life hangs on.4
One major point that must be made in The Common Sense Papers is the need for virtue to be expressed in the norms of behavior that influence our democratic system of government. Virtue undergirds human performance and impacts society at large. The basis for holding any particular mix of virtues will depend on cultural narratives, but in my opinion, every healthy society finds a way to transmit virtues for the greater good of human endeavor. Holiday continues with these four categories of virtues and why they matter.
Courage, bravery, fortitude, honor, sacrifice . . .
Temperance, self-control, moderation, composure, balance . . .
Justice, fairness, service, fellowship, goodness, kindness . . .
Wisdom, knowledge, education, truth, self-reflection, peace . . .
These are the key to a life of [goodness] in every sense. Character traits that John Steinbeck perfectly described as, “pleasant and desirable to [their] owner and makes him perform acts of which he can be proud and with which he can be pleased.” But the “he” must be taken to mean all of humankind. There was no feminine version of the word virtus in Rome. Virtue wasn’t male or female, it just was.
It still is. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman. It doesn’t matter if you’re physically strong or painfully shy, a genius or of average intelligence. Virtue is a universal imperative.
The virtues are interrelated and inseparable, yet each is distinct from the others. Doing the right thing almost always takes courage, just as discipline is impossible without the wisdom to know what is worth choosing. What good is courage if not applied to justice? What good is wisdom if it doesn’t make us more modest?
North, south, east, west—the four virtues are a kind of compass (there’s a reason that the four points on a compass are called the “cardinal directions”). They guide us. They show us where we are and what is true.5
I hesitate to articulate my feelings about the word “true.” We live in the days of mass communication. We talk of information, misinformation, and disinformation. The opportunity to substitute narrative for fact is all too common. Our willingness to admit when facts are unknown is increasingly less common. We all want answers, and we want them now. If our tribe is retelling the facts that seem to make our world safe, why would we decide to deviate from the narrative, question the storyline, or dig deeper?
For the truth—that’s why! Following anything less than the truth will be the pathway of error, and error always carries its own punishment. Only the truth sets us free.
Virtues matter because we must make choices that have life-sustaining consequences. Humans don’t survive and thrive alone—or at least, it’s rare for that to be the case. We understand that we need each other. And as we learn to deal with the fact that we need each other, we come to understand that joint progress often gets determined by the interaction of the virtues at play in our human ecosystem.
Aristotle described virtue as a kind of craft, something to pursue just as one pursues the mastery of any profession or skill. “We become builders by building and we become harpists by playing the harp,” he writes. “Similarly, then, we become just by doing just actions, temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave actions.”6
To the early founders of our country, it was obvious, or “self-evident,” that self-government, or a democratic republic, could only be perpetuated by the self-governed.7 I want to let some of the founders speak for themselves on this issue.
John Adams stated it this way, “Public virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private Virtue, and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.”8
George Washington said: “Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government,”9 and “Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people.”10
Benjamin Franklin said: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.”11
James Madison stated: “To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical [imaginary] idea.”12
Thomas Jefferson wrote,
No government can continue good but under the control of the people; and … their minds are to be informed by education what is right and what wrong; to be encouraged in habits of virtue and to be deterred from those of vice … These are the inculcations necessary to render the people a sure basis for the structure and order of government.13
Samuel Adams said:
Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend of the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue.14
Interestingly, Benjamin Franklin also submitted an idea for the official seal of the new nation which was rejected. Later, he explained why he was unhappy with the choice of an eagle—he felt the bird represented bad moral character. We’ll come back to this later.
The newsletter from Holiday concludes with a strong emphasis on action and a string of questions for our consideration:
Virtue is something we do.
It’s something we choose.
Not once, for Hercules’s crossroads was not a singular event. It’s a daily challenge, one we face not once but constantly, repeatedly. Will we be selfish or selfless? Brave or afraid? Strong or weak? Wise or stupid? Will we cultivate a good habit or a bad one? Courage or cowardice? The bliss of ignorance or the challenge of a new idea?
Stay the same…or grow?
The easy way or the right way?15
Vote repeatedly in a broken system? Or throw something new into the political structure that changes the power, direction, and outcome of our votes?
Stem the flood of corruption in politics due to the dangerously rising tide…or reward bad actors because the ends justify the means?
Embrace common sense…or play identity politics within a two-party system death match?
This is the most important political decision of the century. The destiny of America depends on it.
Final thought: A key ingredient to democratic government is public and private virtue. We must commit to some political method of “do-the-right-thing in every moment” before we lay out the principles, methods, and structures that will serve as a solution to our present problems.
Note: Happy 247th birthday, America!!! Enjoy a wonderful Independence Day!
Ryan Holiday, "This Is the Most Important Decision of Your Life," Ryan Holiday's Blog, (September 27, 2022), https://ryanholiday.net/this-is-the-most-important-decision-of-your-life/ (accessed June 30, 2023).
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
J. David Gowdy, “Without Virtue There Can Be No Liberty,” Mount Liberty College, (July 21, 2018), https://mountlibertycollege.org/without-virtue-there-can-be-no-liberty/ (accessed June 30, 2023).
John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, April 16, 1776. A. Koch and W. Peden, eds., The Selected Writings of John and John Quincy Adams (Knopf, New York, 1946), p. 57.
Victor Hugo Paltsits, Washington’s Farewell Address (The New York Public Library, 1935), p. 124.
Washington to Marquis De Lafayette, February 7, 1788, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington, (U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington D. C., 1939), 29:410.
Jared Sparks, ed., The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, (Tappan, Whittemore and Mason, Boston, 1840), 10:297.
Speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 20, 1788. Jonathan Elliot, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution (J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1891) 3:536.
Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1819. ME 15:234.
William V. Wells, The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams (Little, Brown, & Co., Boston, 1865), 1:22.
Ryan Holiday, "This Is the Most Important Decision of Your Life."
One thought that came to my head was the role that the Enlightenment played in inspiring various rationalist thinkers in the 18th and 17th century, and to your point, the qualities both ancient and modern required to maintain and improve the function of democratic institutions that both sanctify individualism and result in utilitarian outcomes. What is it that enhances or diminishes public accountability and spurs the general public into unselfishly and uncompromisingly holding their leaders accountable regardless of the color of their tie? Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is to hold the public accountable for "higher thinking" as the founding fathers' quotations seem to suggest. Then again, asking the public to overcome the "natural man" and his vices is a struggle quite familiar to antiquity. That being said, I am optimistic that mankind is capable of improving itself, just as it did during the Enlightenment.
Hi Joe - You have captured the root of the problem we face, so many US citizens, and politicians, have no virtue. Restoring virtue is our path out of danger.