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Stoic Spiritual Exercises: Cultivating Justice
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
All Over the Place
When I read my old posts I mostly just gave a rundown on what I’ve been up to and how I’ve been feeling. With the book coming out, stopping CorrCivic opening a detention facility, running a PAC in a tough world of national democratic fundraising, cooking and eating food, the house and the yard I’m jamming all the time. I’ve sworn to stop that and embrace the puttering pace but that vow has been overwhelmed by events.
On to the good stuff and the victories. I had a nice profile piece done in an online Minnesota publication. https://voyageminnesota.com/interview/meet-mike-trapp-of-leavenworth-kansas/
The book is out and I have the official launch planned for Leavenworth at the Red Hibiscus on July 8th 4pm-6pm. https://facebook.com/events/s/ribbon-cutting-mike-trapp-book/696092123306330/
With all that I managed to insulate my cubby. Our historic home was a rental so first steps have been eaves, shoring up the crumbling brick and gaps in the retaining wall.
If you want to buy the Practical Guide to Building a Better World. See me and save postage. Today I’ll be in Columbia through Tuesday. Hit me up if you want to hook up with a book. You can also pick one up from my publisher.https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
I also caught Pride and gave the governor of Kansas a book and told her to run for Senate. She said “hell no” so I met with another great prospect yesterday. Gave the Christian Nationalists some words at the County Commission on the dangers of Christian sectarianism and a little lesson on Jesus’s core message. It’s a lot and it’s all over the place and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Podcast and Book Preorders
There has been so much going on my head is spinning. Achieving some big milestones is huge but it still leaves you to manage all the change and the innumerable details that need to get nailed down when you succeed.
Before I get into that some of the eggs have hatched in the House Finch nest in the wreath on our front door.
All of the projects I have been working on seem to be coming together at the same time. At the New American Community we have been leading the local opposition to keep CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE detention center.
Through our work on the issue we came to know William Rogers a former corrections officer who has become a leader in exposing their understaffing and unsafe conditions for staff and residents. Mr. Rogers was kind enough to share his story on our first podcast episode.
https://newamericancommunity.podbean.com/
On the literary front Bread and Roses Press has The Practical Guide to Building a Better World at the print house. Presales are open and we should have books in June!
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Thank you for support and follow along here or at Https://www.miketrapp store or Https://www.newamerican.community for the latest updates on the book, podcast, and organizing events and materials.
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