Daily Insight:

Courage where it no longer exists

Modernity is spiteful; with every blessing it offers, it attaches a curse, something to stain the progress and hurt our nature, soul, or purpose.

Security quashes freedom.

Equity crushes hierarchy.

Comfort kills spirit.

And here, the excess of safety and order have made true courage obsolete, stripping us from chances to express this ancient and deeply fulfilling virtue.

What saves this from being hyperbole is that, while courage still exists, its definition has been diluted into something more palatable, something which everyone can have a sip of.

Modern 'courage' is divorced from the original heroic conception—the one familiar to the Greeks and Romans—where it meant action in the face of injury or death, almost always in the hot sweat of battle.

Even if it doesn't feel like it, the world is more peaceful than it has ever been; that's nothing to moan about, but it means unfiltered courage has lost its arena, and like a pathogen, it must scramble to adapt and stay relevant.

What is left?

Wimpy men who let themselves get trampled over.

Minds that hold no real beliefs, shapeshifting to whatever keeps them out of trouble.

Or in the younger crowd, often fatal displays of reckless risk-taking, latching onto any desperate chance to show courage even if the end goal is meaningless.

Courage is the lifeblood of masculinity, but again, what do you do when the world doesn't require it? How do we avoid deflating into limp, lifeless pushovers?

If we never train courage, we are bound to lose it.

We're also not going to larp as hoplites and attack policemen with wooden spears to prove our bravery; the confines of modernity are real, and for now, we must operate within them.

One such outlet is intellectual courage.

We already enjoy debate and discussion as a simulation of 'the good fight' which adds conflict and drama to an otherwise dull life, so it makes sense that courage can beat its chest in the same context.

If 'pure' courage is action in the face of injury or death, then intellectual courage is to think, speak, and engage despite the risk of criticism, offence, unpopularity, and in extreme cases, legal trouble or bodily harm.

At the lowest level, this is being honest or authentic even if it costs you face.

At the highest level, this is losing your life for what you believe.

Everyone can show intellectual courage, from a young political activist on the streets, to a whistleblower under corporate pressure, to a Coptic Egyptian being beheaded for their faith.

Since we live in the real world, moments to express intellectual courage are an uncomfortable fork in the road—do we stay or do we go? Do I fight, or relent?

In these moments, we weigh up our decision between the purity of virtue and the caution of pragmatism.

Is this worth the reputational risk?

Can I really afford to lose my job over this?

Must I keep my head down and get my work done?

Maybe, maybe not—that's under your judgement.

But in a world that has made courage a fictional virtue, one reserved for 3am hero fantasies and 1v5 videogame clutches, let us not forget the one form we can readily practice.

Let us tell the truth and profess what is right, even if it hurts.

Let us hold fast and reject the warm, coddled embrace of conformity.

Let us step into the arena and accept the criticism, ridicule, and abuse hurled at us.

That is intellectual courage.

Yours,

Odysseas

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Links

Account - Matthew Oliver (art analysis)

You have probably seen his videos already: a dramatic painting, panning close-ups, and a calm British voice walking us through the hidden details.

Matthew Oliver is an artist himself, but beyond the canvas, he uploads incredibly interesting videos on art analysis and commentary.

He covers the hidden stories that you may otherwise gloss over as you shuffle through the gallery, along with the intention behind different features and techniques—everything has a purpose if you pause to look, and there is always more than first imagined.

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Book - The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert Paxton

Did you know Fascism is more complicated than donning Hugo Boss and beating up minorities? It was news to me also.

The term 'fascism' is fired off like a methhead was holding the cannon: loose, unrestrained, and charged with whatever fits the accuser's vague idea of it.

Other '-isms' share the same fate. Nobody really knows what they mean.

In this book, Robert Paxton dissects fascist movements and gives us a full account of their DNA from beginning to end.

He looks at what fascists actually did, not just what they said; he covers the conditions which fermented their appeal, the methods they used to seize and grow in power, and how their character changed over time.

It's a great analysis with breadth and depth, while staying very readable throughout.

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Site - Literary Hub​

An elegant site collecting all things literature, including criticism, analysis, and recommendations.

The range is diverse and refreshing without ever sinking into e-slop or junk 'opinion piece' territory, and I like the aesthetics too.

For once, I'm happy to see ads populating the site; in our subscription-hell, it's one less thing to pay for.

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