Stoic advice: should I vote for the lesser evil?

J. wrote: I am facing a choice between what I consider two very evil options. Many of my friends argue that one choice is the lesser evil, but I disagree. I see one choice as perhaps slightly less evil now and the other choice as much more evil in the long run. The few friends who agree with me just happen to be those whose opinions I have always most valued. My choice at the moment is not to vote for either evil when the time comes. I’m wondering if the Ancient Stoics might provide any guidance in this situation.

You are referring of course to the upcoming US presidential election, and the choice between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. I think you have a lot of company concerning this dilemma, including yours truly. Though I wouldn’t use the word evil for either outcome.

Before we proceed, let me explain why. Stoics think that nobody does evil on purpose, no even far worse individuals than the ones we are talking about. The reason for that is that people always think they have good reasons to do what they do. If those reasons turn out to be incorrect, then they are making a mistake. And nobody wants to make mistakes. Here is how Epictetus explains it:

“This man who has fallen into error and is mistaken about the most important matters, and thus has gone blind, not with regard to the eyesight that distinguishes white from black, but with regard to the judgment that distinguishes good from bad — should someone like this be put to death?” If you put the question in that way, you’ll recognize the inhumanity of the thought that you’re expressing, and see that it is equivalent to saying, “Should this blind man, then, or that deaf one, be put to death?” (Discourses I, 18.3)

It’s a far more charitable attitude toward other people: if they are mistaken, we try to correct their mistakes, or at the very least to minimize the damage they do to others. But we don’t slap the label “evil” on them and start dehumanizing and hating them as a…