Why Renunciation is Not Resilience
The modern fetish for lifeless acceptance is a dangerous withdrawal from the struggle for justice, equality and human rights
Is Stoicism a passive philosophy | Critique of modern stoic philosophy | The problem with accepting what you can’t control | Stoicism influencers and inaction
This article was first published on Blogger on September 08, 2025.
Struggle is the basic building block on which the whole universe was formed about 13.8 billion years ago. Our own earth, and its inorganic materials have gone through relentless endeavor for about two billion years before the beautiful Blue Planet was stable enough to imagine, anything organic, like us. Every living being, plant, animal and human, have evolved through the millions of years of harsh endeavoring to appear in the present form of functioning and beauty.
Our astronauts, who work on the International Space International(ISS) for longer duration, from three months to multiple years, face health related issues, in their bones and muscles. Just because the earth’s gravity is weaker there, their bones and muscles can’t struggle against the habitual gravity to remain healthy and functioning.
In a nutshell, struggle is ingrained in our genes, neurons and in the human condition and nature.
Everything modern, from Galileo’s model of the universe to the proclamation of the basic human rights in the global consciousness, have been achieved through a long and bleeding labor. If we had opted to be a passive spectator of the external event, then we would not have achieved what we have today, as luxury. The facilities in Norway’s jail is like the five star hotels of the developing countries. We have achieved this much because our ancestors chose struggle over the laziness of inactions. They chose violent death over the meaningless existence, under the tyranny of injustice and greed.
The world, especially Europe, chose to fight back with oppression and have gone through a series of political, social and revolutionary turmoil from 17th to 20th centuries so that their great-grandchild enjoy the welfare system of the Nordic countries.
From 1789 to 1917, the historically suppressed class, fought back and reclaimed the basic right of living with dignity for the entire humanity. When those, who thrive on the looted wealth of the weaker and poorer people and countries, realized that humanity had awaken and reclaiming its lost territory, they thought of a plan to shift our focus, from struggle and activism to passivity and resignation: welcome to the opium of stoicism.
Many tricks have been tried and tested in the last 100+ years. When nothing worked, and in the 1960s, the young generation again rose their heads in the counterculture revolution across the globe, and when the environmental activists made the environmentalism as the mainstream topic of the media narrative, a new plan was hatched to sedate us with the lazy ideas of the stoic stupidity.
Critique of modern stoic philosophy
Read carefully, what Friedrich Nietzsche had thought of stoicism in 1886 in his book Beyond Good and Evil:
“You want to live ‘according to nature’? Oh, you noble Stoics, what a fraud of words! Imagine a being like nature, prodigal beyond measure, indifferent beyond measure, without intentions or considerations, without pity or justice, at once fruitful and barren and uncertain: imagine this indifference as a power—how could you live according to this indifference? Living—is that not precisely wanting to be other than this nature? Is not living a matter of valuing, of preferring, of being unjust, of being limited, of being something different from nature?”
Stoicism influencers and inaction
We were introduced to the little known, obscured, exotic and forgotten philosophies and ideas of the ancient era. They were effective about 2200 years ago in the time, circumstances and limitation of the epoch of history, very different from ours. The Helium gas of the trends and coolness were pumped into the balloon of such patronizing ideas and were served to the world as if the ancient ideas would solve all the problems of humanity—from individual to the global level.
Is Stoicism a passive philosophy?
Philosophy is the mother of all knowledge and it works when we exercise its principles throughout our lives through trial, error and sacrifice. The lofty philosophy does not work if we flash out of context quotes, stolen out of ancient books, and streamed into our modern gadgets of slothfulness and inactiveness.
Gautama Buddha, left his own kingdom, family, luxury and subjected himself to the harsh truth of the living realities before opening his mouth to the world. Philosophy, of any region or of any time, needs a lifetime of dedication, devotion and sacrifice to understand the underlying principles behind the exotic words.
Language is just a tool and a medium to convey ideas. It can generate emotions in you but it can not change your character, habit and instincts. To change the basic building blocks of your troublesome personality, you need to go through the practicality of ideas on the ground. By placing others’ majestic quotes on your social feeds, you will not become the ancient philosopher.
An idea comes out of the reaction to its time, conflict and in response to the challenges of its period. Stoicism was a response to the violent existence of 300 BC of Athens. Zeno of Citium(334 to 262 BCE) was solving the problem of his time of civil wars and the political upheaval after the death(June 323 BC) of Alexander the Great. He did not devised his ideas to entertain the sluggish generation of the 21st century who is enjoying the luxury on the blood-soaked field of its own ancestors. If our forefathers had chosen to be stoics instead of freedom fighter then today we would have been living in the harsh realities of the 16th to 17th century Europe.
The problem with accepting what you can’t control
The basic principle of stoicism is not to worry about those things that are beyond your control. Now tell me, unless, you are not through the thick and thin of a struggle for justice, equality, and human rights, how would you know whether the fruit of fight is within your control or not?
Stoicism vs activism and change
This is a call to action. Read what our great grandparents have struggled for. Our libraries are full of their stories of courage, boldness and sacrifice. Two things never change: human condition and human nature. Human nature can be fashioned through careful cultivation, but the ocean bed of our existence does not change. We need to continue our struggle like our ancestors did so that our children can sleep in a cozy bed.
Nepal protest is a wakeup call
Look at the ongoing struggle in Nepal: as I am typing these words, more than 19 Nepalese Genzee(13 to 28 years old ) have died and more than 250 are injured. They were protesting against the blanket ban on the global social media apps like Facebook, X, WhatsApp, and Instagram etc. 90% of the country’s population uses internet and it is one of the major sources of social engagement, entertainment, and income among the younger generations of one of the poorest countries of the world.
You can read about the ongoing development here: NYT | Aljazeera | Reuters | CNN
💐🙏🌹 Read more of my work at https://zarionzory.substack.com
For a deeper dive into the hidden realities of our existence, read this short eBook written in the similar style of this conversation: Manufacturing Authenticity: Fashioning Reality and Fabricating Truth
My thoughts on other topics
The Architect of Anguish: How Martha Nussbaum Lived the Rage of Hecuba
The Stage is Calling: Your Chance to Lead the Comeback of Live Storytelling
Create Your Own Meaning: How to Navigate the Craziness of Life
This article was first published on Blogger on September 08, 2025.
Zarion Zory 