The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

Robert Rosenkranz: How To Use Stoicism To Build a Meaningful Life

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May 16, 2025

Robert Rosenkranz, author of The Stoic Capitalist and founder of Open To Debate, shares his journey from a modest New York upbringing to billionaire status. He discusses how Stoicism fosters personal and financial success through rational thinking. The conversation touches on the challenges of embracing change in capitalism and the necessity of civil discourse in political debates. Rosenkranz explores the connections between Stoic philosophy, resilience, and personal growth, highlighting its relevance in today's fast-paced world.

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INSIGHT

Core Stoic Principles

Stoicism prioritizes rationality and managing destructive emotions like anger and fear.
It values conscious use of time, embracing impermanence, focused action, and societal benefit.

ANECDOTE

Childhood Insecurity as Motive

Rosenkranz grew up in a tiny, insecure apartment where financial worries were constant.
This insecurity taught him early self-reliance, a stoic way where obstacles become the path forward.

INSIGHT

Facing Prejudice Stoically

Prejudice was widespread, but wasting energy on it is fruitless, a classic Stoic acceptance.
Assimilation was Rosenkranz's adaptive strategy in a discriminatory society.

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Are you part of the growing stoicism movement? Built on virtue, reason, and self-control, the ancient Roman philosophy is gaining popularity in a world that just seems to get crazier and crazier.

Today's guest is a self-described stoic. Robert Rosenkranz is the author of The Stoic Capitalist: Advice for the Exceptionally Ambitious, which takes a deep dive into how stoic principles can lead to personal, financial, and social success. Rosenkranz charts his path from a small, cramped family apartment in 1950s New York City to becoming a billionaire deal-maker and founder of Open To Debate, a nonprofit that hosts nationally broadcasted debates about the toughest issues of the day.

The Stoic Capitalist is an emotional memoir with snippets of philosophy from the likes of Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. It illustrates the power of rational thinking and purposeful action in all parts of life. Reason's Nick Gillespie and Rosenkranz talk about the political journey from a New Frontier liberal to more of a libertarian-leaning Reagan Republican to a philanthropist deeply committed to promoting intense but civil debate. They also talk about how the creative destruction that undergirds capitalism displaces people not just economically but culturally—and how to make it easier for people to adapt to the unending change that is necessary for improvements in living standards.

This interview was recorded at a live event in New York City.

Upcoming Reason events:

0:00—Introduction
1:48—Rosenkranz's new book: The Stoic Capitalist
5:00—Threats to the American experiment
8:23—Rosenkranz's upbringing and secular Jewish identity
14:22—Finding inspiration from Joseph Kennedy Sr., Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca
17:30—Rosenkranz's political evolution
24:35—What killed American optimism?
29:51—How taking huge risks reaped Rosenkranz huge rewards
32:17—Rosenkranz's business philosophy
34:51—The best argument for capitalism today
39:17—Open To Debate and stoic dialectic
43:10—Organ markets and life extension experiments
49:50—The stoic view on death

Video Editor: Ian Keyser

The post Robert Rosenkranz: How To Use Stoicism To Build a Meaningful Life appeared first on Reason.com.