What Does Socialism Have to Do with Sparta?

Probably less than you think.

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July 17, 2026 2:01pm EDT

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In today’s edition, Joe shares:

Why an ancient warrior society and a modern economic debate are asking you the exact same question.

What Sparta, the Stoics, and the Buddha all agreed on but almost nobody talks about.

The year Joe almost sold the farm, and why he chose the hard way instead.

What Does Socialism Have to Do with Sparta?

Probably less than you think.

One is an economic philosophy.

The other was an ancient warrior society.

But the more I thought about it, the more they both force you to answer the same question:

What makes human beings strong? Comfort? Or struggle?

For years I've wrestled with an idea.

Complacency doesn't come from success. It comes from having too much.

Too much comfort. Too much convenience. Too much safety. Too much help.

The human body weakens when it isn't challenged. I wonder if the human spirit does too.

That sent me down a rabbit hole. Not politics. History.

Have great thinkers warned that societies weaken as life gets easier?

Almost all of them did.

The Spartans embraced hardship because adversity forged courage.

The Stoics practiced discomfort because they feared luxury more than poverty.

The Buddha warned that attachment to pleasure becomes suffering.

Lao Tzu said there is no greater calamity than having too much.

Alexis de Tocqueville worried free people might one day surrender responsibility. Not from conquest. From comfort. Someone simply promises them an easier life, and they take it.

Different cultures. Different centuries. Same uncomfortable truth:

When life demands less from you, you become less yourself.

That doesn't mean socialism is wrong. It doesn't mean capitalism builds strong people either.

History gives you plenty of weak, decadent societies under both systems.

The real enemy is comfort without responsibility.

The Spartans understood something you've begun to forget.

A meaningful life isn't built by eliminating struggle. It's built by choosing the right struggles.

I felt this the year I almost sold the farm.

The easy path was clear. Cash out. Let someone else deal with the mud, the debt, the 4 a.m. problems.

I chose the hard way instead. Not because it was smart. Because I knew what I'd become if I didn't.

Maybe that's why obstacle racing resonates with millions of people.

In a world obsessed with making everything easier, people are searching for something worth doing the hard way.

Joe

THE STRUGGLE IS THE POINT

You don't get strong by accident. Sparta built warriors by making life harder, on purpose. No shortcuts. No safety net. Comfort is not the reward. Comfort is the trap. You get to choose which one you become.

IT'S ALWAYS THE SOLUTION.

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They Said It

"Man is not made for safe harbors. Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."

– Seneca, Roman Stoic philosopher

➝The Hard Way Podcast with Joe

THE HARDWAY PODCAST

94 hundred-milers finished. 11 of his 14 DNFs were in his head, not his legs. Karl "Speedgoat" Meltzer breaks down what actually keeps you at the start line at 58.

Watch now

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What Does Socialism Have to Do with Sparta?

Probably less than you think.

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