Multiconstruct

I am beginning my second week of stoic spiritual exercises. My last blog post was about cultivating Wisdom: https://multiconstruct.blog/2026/01/07/cultivating-wisdom/

Justice corresponds with the discipline of action. Each of us has the power to choose to move towards a thing and to move away from a thing. No thing is in our power but that does not stop us from pursuing goals and trying to achieve.

Stoicism is powerfully rooted in the individual. Virtue is the only good and virtue is the exclusive domain of our own actions and opinions. All else we cultivate an indifference towards so that we remain free and have a happy flow of life.

When we act, we must act in accordance with nature. When we observe other living things we see that they take action to obtain food and shelter, procreation, and the rearing of children. Humans are no different but we meet our needs socially in cooperation with others. Acting in accordance with nature requires right living and consideration of others. Stoicism is rooted in cosmopolitanism.

Self awareness begins when we are toddlers but it is many years and much growth before we learn that other people are conscious as well. We call it the narcissist dilemma. My thoughts and feelings are real and important because I think them and feel them, and others’ thoughts and feelings are mere rumors.

As we mature we realize our parents have feelings and needs and are not just characters in our story but are the protagonists of their own narrative. The rest of the family, my neighbors, other townspeople, and personal associates are all the same. We bring this understanding to our state, country, and in its most developed state all the people of the world.

Beyond that we think of all the people of the future. We share the same resource base and the decisions we make impact their lives. I want to leave more of a legacy than resource depletion and micro plastics; waste, debt, and bullshit. I want to leave the children something good.

This is Justice. Weighing our own interests as co-equal with all others. We give primacy to the people in front of us for sure but we are all bound together in a collective web of reciprocity and shared habitat.

We have to take in information and make decisions with others in mind to live a life of justice. Right actions, done at the right time, for the right reasons is what it means to live a just life.

I did a talk on Facebook today if you want a deeper dive: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1DvjEJ3Xgs/ It’s only going to be up for 30 days. If you like what I have to say but my book: https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world