Stoicism's appeal to the rich and powerful (2019)

"But on the negative side, stoicism’s Providential claim that everything in the universe is already perfect and that things which seem bad or unjust are secretly good underneath (a claim Christianity borrowed from Stoicism) can be used to justify the idea that the rich and powerful are meant to be rich and powerful, that the poor and downtrodden are meant to be poor and downtrodden, and that even the worst actions are actually good in an ineffable and eternal way"…

I like the slightly provocative title. To the stoics themselves, wealth and power are indifferent: neither good or bad. I say that the title is provocative because wealth and power often provoke people, as can be seen in this very discussion (here on Hacker News). Depending on where you come from and where you are in life, a phrase such as "rich and powerful" may call forth the negative stereotype of evil wealthy people, or it may call forth the…

Because so many common problems can be solved by application of wealth and/or power, it's almost a tautology that the rich and powerful will be left with problems which are largely insoluble by external means; hence to reconcile oneself to the inconsistency of their constraints, it is useful to seek the consolation of philosophy.