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Critias In Classical Golden-Age Athens (the life span of an unusually old man in the fifth century B.C.) a form of democracy existed (in the rule of qualified citizens, approximately 1/10th of its population) and one of its features was a public place in which any citizen could say whatever he liked, including ridicule and slander, even concerning the leading citizens that constituted the executive portion of the government. That place was an open colonnaded hall called the stoa. One was minded, however, not to speak so critically by way of examining issues that would give offense to those endowed with power in any other place. The stoa was a place where ideas about any subject could be explored, and thus the strength of many minds could be combined. The outlook on how to conduct one’s life called stoicism comes from this place wherein it was shared. The thinker, Socrates (470-399 B.C.) made use of the public license to freely speak as he pursued the understanding of the essence of good and evil. By relentless questioning of onlookers, he made them see that their understanding of right and wrong was a social construct and not connected to any intrinsic or immutable standard, as they had thought and had been taught. His rationale was in direct reaction to the sophists, the “men of wisdom,” who prepared their followers for public life, their central credo being that truth is relative and subordinate to circumstance and can be molded by those having the will and interest to do so. The ability to manipulate public perception in the interest of the crafty few was prized at the perihelion of Athenian civilization. He awakened his hearers to look within themselves and adopt a standard that could not be swayed by the politicians or apparent circumstance. The oligarchs (the few who rule) who managed to gain and retain public favor by making agreeable proposals in the wake of subjugation by Sparta after an ill-advised and unjust war, were offended that he should steer the youth away from manageable following and condemned him, in the name of sedition and corrupting the youth, to take poison. This he did, and by so doing, sealed his testimony with his life. As it is absorbed, the water hemlock kills by putting the blood vessels through which it passes into painful spasm that gradually intensifies to cut off circulation to the hands and feet, progressing to the trunk. The end of life comes when it reaches the beating heart. Brother Murphy is experiencing a psychological analog as social circulation would be denied to him and to what he represents. So our situation in this Work has its parallels with ancient Athens. Some would say we have our “men of wisdom.” Some would say we are judged by a movable standard to suit men, not an absolute standard to suit truth. Therefore, our stoa must be outside the precincts of our places of assembly. The internet must be the refuge of the exiles, and if the nature of truth must be sought, it shall be before a wider audience in the highways and byways of the world. “Know thyself.” Socrates “Critias” is the title of one of the dialogues of Plato
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