hostile + withdrawn

The Socratic love of wisdom holds not only that the unexamined life is not worth living…but also that to be human and a democratic citizen requires that one muster the courage to think critically for oneself. This love of wisdom is a perennial pursuit into the dark corners of one’s own soul, society, and world. This pursuit shatters one’s petty idols, false illusions, and seductive fetishes; it undermines blind conformity, glib complacency, and pathetic cowardice. Socratic questioning yields intellectual integrity, philosophic humility, and personal sincerity—all essential elements of our democratic armor for the fight against corrupt elite power.

You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.