Socrates is drawing the distinction between pleasure and happiness (eudaimonia, in the Greek). He was saying that following his path will lead to the latter, distractions to the former. Pleasure is here today, gone tomorrow. It’s cheap. Eudaimonia is true happiness. That word means flourishing. Watching the Olympian victor will not lead you to flourish, it’s not a longterm investment.
Of course, he was speaking in Ancient Greece. However, there are many contemporary analogs. We do not really have Olympian victors, but we have Netflix, movies, sports, and video games. Look at the photos on Facebook. People are buried in distraction. Yes, families need to have fun, and people are only going to post their best photos on Facebook. (I get the sense that the point of Facebook is for Gen Xers and Boomers to have a place to be wacky; the Nazi Reich marshal Hermann Göring supposedly said, "Whenever I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver." Whenever I am presented with adult wackiness, I think of Göring's quote (it's doubtful he really said this, but that's not the point, I still think of it). And if I wasn’t doing blog, article, and book work—that is, educational work—I wouldn’t touch this bullshit with a ten-foot pole.) So, in the off hours, when folks are not posting pictures of dogs and babies (which must be 47 percent of Facebook), they’re learning about how the banks work? They’re studying US foreign policy? They’re becoming more politically articulate? I’m skeptical.
We live in perhaps the most distracted culture on earth. Maybe the Japanese might give us a run for our money, but they have universal healthcare and basically nonexistent gun violence, so they are way out in front of us. We are obsessed and participate in the cult of celebrity, we worship the rich, professional sports exist at the center of our culture, etc., etc. And we have serious problems in this country. Well, that’s our fault. We prefer clowns and we are therefore led by clowns. I take that back. That’s unfair to clowns. Clowns work hard and bring something of value into the world. Congress does nothing and visits misery onto the population. “Is Goldman Sachs okay??” That is the mindset of Congress. So, I apologize to clowns.
I present students with a thought experiment. What if all the men (it’s usually men, let’s be honest) talking about the game, enjoying a beer, were instead talking about politics, economics, and how the working class is getting seriously jerked around. I’m not saying this is going to happen, and I’m not saying there is anything wrong with unwinding after work with a beer and talking about the game. But what if?
This would strike terror in the offices at CNN and Fox, and the boardrooms at the major banks on Wall Street. It would be seen as a threat. Because now the population would be watching and paying attention—and talking to one another! CNN could not serve the abysmal news product they do anymore, Wall Street would have to serve the public first and toe the line, and Congress would have to actually do something and make the country a better place—which is not the priority.
They sentenced Socrates to death for a lot less.
