Zeno, you tried to smudge the dichotomy of dispute.
Aristotelians wanted self-sufficiency materialistically
A happiness from being able to live in consistent comfort
But Cynics were adamant that all that was material was bad
They expounded the virtue in ascetism and austerity
Even a Stoic was befuddled between the two, about clarity
in managing of life, emotion and all things relevant. How could
the violinists of Stoicism play with one fiddle, until you came around?
So, you showed up as a meaningful middle line, between the serpent
of living and the dragon of dying! What is true freedom in the complexities
of life? Is it the Cynic abandonment? Or is it Aristotelian proportionment?
Zeno, you were propitiating…like your subsequent school-fellow Epictetus:
What is material is not bearing on morality, and what simply means
upholding virtue! We can live life, thus, to a degree of living, without
being confounded. But I am not certain there is any middle line in
any other ideology; Philosophy is not the crux of the reality we live
in. It was not the backbone of Peloponnesian wars at least!
Politics is a contest of ideology. We cannot embrace the differences!
We have to choose sides. Democracy is a brittle exercise of modern-day propaganda.
There is little truth in it. It is just a stagnant mirage, that is apparently worth it but never really worthy of anything!
In reality, we have to defend ourselves, not out of ideology, but necessity.
But I have marked that placard for others, not myself! What would you
then call my predicament in the succession of ages? Do I demarcate its orderliness or plunge it into chaos?
For me, there is no compromise. I must deceive to survive (even if it is out
of an innocent wisdom). And I must survive to salvage and redeem!
You can see that I tolerate enemies to a degree, but never entertain them
or make them my bedfellows. I have taken great pains to resist the connivance to
ensnare you all in the folly of your ignorance and materialistic urges! Even if
you don’t acknowledge or recognise the amount of sacrifice, pain and torture
I’ve been through to conduct myself between one treachery or the other, for your safety!
It is a matter of restraint and patience against an overwhelming evil
that has only your submission and defeat in store for you. Because it attempts to become
me and all I love and aspire for. So, I have to kill myself and my loves and aspirations to defeat that evil!
Do you see that any middle line will only be a submission to perversity. I am not compromising
with enemies, despite my restraint! I am not condoning or forgiving them, despite my patience and sublimity!
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