He wasn’t “rich people” like some Russian oligarch. He had shit to do and deep moral obligations. Millions of lives depended on it. Things of vast strategic importance stretching both thousands of miles and many decades.
Slaves don’t manage your long term ambitions and juggle your various mental and moral anguishes. They keep your house clean and provide you with food, sure. But to be honest, as a rich Westerner, I’m not too far off that.
He didn’t dream about standing knees deep in foreign horse shit managing the nitty gritty of brutal wars for the continued existence of an empire that looked solely at you.
All this could be handled with great nonchalance and incompetency which would have made his life relatively easy. But he decided to try and do a good job, now that’s something to take serious.
I get that “rich people” have some leverage, but this is another thing altogether.
You know yourself better than I, obviously, but if you're assuming that because your path differs from theirs, I think you should have some doubt that the difference is because you are less capable. It may be that you have different values.
He seems to have resisted, or rather, his particular ethical framework provided the power to resist two very big and very real problems:
"Mo money mo problems" (~Socrates)
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" (~Shania Twain)
Lol. Actually Lord Acton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton%2C_1st_Baro...
This is cracking me up, thanks.
Well, sure, I didn't say anything that disagrees with that at all. But you phrased it in a more general sense of being less capable.
Perhaps I read it wrong, but that didn't sound like you were saying "I'm less capable at X", rather that you were saying you were less capable in general. That was the sentiment I was pushing back on.
And I wasn't even saying that assessment was wrong. I was just saying that it's the sort of sentiment that can easily come from incorrectly underestimating one's self and so deserves a deeper look.
He was a fine emperor, but I have my specialties. Also, I have a good simple life for which I am grateful. Being an emperor sucks.
Because you (presumably) have to deal with every tiny thing in your life. Even having to buy and cook food can feel overwhelming when you’re busy trying to accomplish other things.
Marcus Aurelius had slaves. He was the emperor. He did not have to worry about the multitude of minutiae required just to continue to exist.
When it seems to you rich people are able to achieve more, remember that’s because they have to do less. If you did not have to think about basic necessities, you too could do more of what you dream about.