My Epicurian Garden II

Epicurus and Modern Socialist Revolution


The goal is to live within your life and to enjoy that life and harm no one. To be angry leads us nowhere but pain. We should try to turn that anger into an assurance that we are supposed to find the source of irritation and do something about it. Live as if each day was the last and embrace each day fully. The fact that we all will die, we should not let that honesty interfere with the living and celebration of life. Death is not daunting for while you are alive you are not dead. When you are dead you are no more. Once you and I dissolve into the natural elements that make up our bodies we feel no sensations we worry about nothing we suffer no grief. Experiences of sensations are for the living, without thought there is no fear.

The goal of receiving and giving pleasure and avoiding and giving no pain is the goal of all living things. We as people should respect that and try not to exploit others for our own limited desires. Ataraxia is distinguished by liberation from anxiety, apprehension or dread. Enjoyment of life is hedonism. Hedonism that does not harm our bodies is a good thing; hedonism that harms no one else is even better. Hedonism that can be gained through reciprocity, generosity and compassion is what the core of socialism is all about.

Real hedonism requires a strong sense of social justice. With equality we with live in dread of those with less than us. Without everyone getting their basic needs met the public realm becomes one of anger and fear. If there were no large amounts of wealth side by side with poverty then we would all live without exploitation, theft, struggle just to survive other live in luxury by taking what others have worked so hard to produce.

The teachings of Epicurus are sound a foundation for socialists thought. The wealth necessary to live a good life without exploiting others is found in the natural world which has environmental limitations. But it is simple to get hold of the resources needed to live modestly but comfortably for everyone. The wealth needed to survive a market economy bolstered by arrogant morals of corporate accumulation become more intense as wealth grows for the few and poverty for the many extends to infinity. The prosperity requisite in the environment is limited; if we go beyond natural limitations we destroy our own homes. Comfort is easy to achieve; but the avarice that is obligatory by narcissistic gluttony of capitalism extends to eternity. Hedonism based upon greed is not hedonism but iniquity. Intemperance centered upon avarice is not only self-indulgence but also social injustice. Simplicity, fairness, mutuality, directness, justice, reciprocity, kindheartedness, consideration, understanding and appreciation of others are the sources of happiness.

Social justice is necessary for security. But justice is fairness only if it is independent from any suggestion of antagonism or retribution. In living the good life then, pleasure is the highest virtue if that pleasure is not bought at the pain and suffering of others. Reciprocity is founded upon mutual bond of having confidence in the thoughtful appreciation of others.

Life is a celebration to be indulged in and not a burden to be endured. Any thing that interferes with that merriment called living is injustice. Injustice anywhere it comes to our attention it must be opposed with all the moral indignation we can muster. This in itself becomes our celebration. If we are to stand for justice we must confirm the worth of the victims of injustice.

Justice is the nonexistence of hate, resentment, avarice and disrespect for others. Victory is the intelligent human condition that will prevail over injustice by good sense and useful study of the natural world and of other people from which we form a scientific foundation for sympathetic understanding.

Our knowledge of the world around begins with our sensational experiences of that world. All our sensations are basic stimulus response and in the beginning are absent of purpose and because it is not open to of recollection, thinking about and based on reason or philosophy we define reality. Our experience of the external world it is not self-caused. It does not have an external cause outside of that experience. Our experience cannot add anything without our interpretation. The external world is given and we learn through stimulus response and by talking to others thus an ego embedded in an ever-changing culture is formed. Reason is born with that this complex interaction between the ego, sensations, the external environment and communication with others.