“Some things are in our control and others not.” — Epictetus, Enchiridion, 1
The United States and Canada are now in a trade war that nobody on either side of the border asked for. Talks collapsed on Friday, August 21. The next day the United States imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $27.6 billion of Canadian goods. On Tuesday, Canada answered dollar for dollar, announcing tariffs on $20 billion of American products beginning September 8. Prime Minister Mark Carney put it plainly: “We were attacked.” Two neighbors, the largest trading relationship on Earth, and the response to a dispute is to make everything both countries buy more expensive.
The Stoic response is not to shrug. It is to draw the line Epictetus drew in the first sentence of the Enchiridion: some things are in our control, others are not. The tariff schedule is not in our control. The next round of negotiations is not in our control. The mood of the markets, the price of lumber and steel and maple syrup, none of that is in our control. What is in our control: how we read the news without letting it own us, how we spend, how we treat the people around us, whether we let a trade war between governments become a war between neighbors.
Nepal. A glacial collapse on Wednesday sent a wall of ice, mud, and rock into a Himalayan river, flooding the Nepal-Tibet border region. At least 547 people are confirmed dead, more than 1,500 are missing, and over 3,700 have been rescued. Geologists say the avalanche was powerful enough to set off its own seismic signal. Climate scientists have warned for years that the Himalayas are warming faster than the global average; the warning was not heeded in time.
Meta. Prosecutors from 47 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories announced a settlement with Meta over accusations that it deliberately designed addictive products it knew were harmful to children. The company will pay at least $12 billion and up to $17.1 billion, and will change how its platforms treat underage users. It is a landmark settlement; it is also, as AI Now’s Amba Kak put it, the least the company can do after harms that have already caused suicides.
The visa ban. A federal judge in New York struck down the administration’s ban on visas for immigrants from 75 countries, calling it “patently unlawful” and a violation of federal immigration law. The State Department had claimed, without evidence, that people from those nations would likely receive public benefits. Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that the measure discriminated on the basis of nationality. The rule of law, for one week at least, held.
Tyson. The largest meatpacking company in the country closed two plants, in Illinois and Utah, laying off more than 3,000 workers. The company blames “one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced.” The workers in Joslin, Illinois, held a rally demanding the plant reopen and six months of pay. The CEO made over $34 million last year. Some numbers in the economy are not in our control; the arithmetic of who bears the cost is worth noticing.
Gaza. Israeli strikes continued this week, killing two Palestinian brothers sheltering near Al-Aqsa Hospital and, over the weekend, at least two more people including a four-year-old. Palestinian officials say the U.S.-brokered ceasefire has been violated nearly 4,400 times since it took effect in October. A displaced man put it in words no Stoic could improve: “There is no ceasefire. There is nothing.”
Here is the honest forecast: things are likely to get worse before they improve. The trade war has no off-ramp visible. The glaciers are not going to re-freeze. The layoffs will not be the last. If you are waiting for the news to calm down before you reclaim your peace, you will be waiting a long time.
That is exactly why the dichotomy of control is not a slogan but a discipline. The Stoics did not promise that the world would cooperate. They promised that you could keep your judgment intact while the world did whatever it was going to do. The storm is not in your control. The sturdiness of the house is. The tariff is not in your control. The way you treat your neighbor, your family, your own attention, that is.
The Practice
This week, when you feel the news pulling at you, ask one question: is this in my control? If it is not, name it and set it down. If it is, name the one small action you can take, and take it. Do this once a day, and notice how much of the noise was never yours to carry.
See you next Saturday. — Phil
Sourced from Democracy Now!’s coverage of the U.S.-Canada trade war, the Nepal glacier collapse, the Meta settlement, the visa ban ruling, the Tyson closures, and Gaza; Canada’s Department of Finance announcements; and AP, USA Today, and The Guardian reporting on the retaliatory tariffs.