The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, is known as the philosopher king. His revered teacher was a man named Junius Rusticus, whom Aurelius remembered this way:
“From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man who practices much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a display.”
The entire purpose of Rusticus, as a project, is to encourage young people to see the necessity of developing a good character, through improvement and discipline. This program is not about instruction of any particular thing. No, instead it is more about revealing the process by which a person can observe the world, discern the best answers, and take responsibility for himself. This person, a true thinker, is becoming quite uncommon.
Why bother? There is a moral obligation to help both individuals, as well as society. For the individual, a life spent in the pursuit of meaning will find it. History is the story of men who, for the most part, have lived frustrating lives. They comply with ideologies and norms that they never even consider. Thoreau noted that the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation. Look around and you will see his is right. Rusticus exists to combat that.
As far as Rusticus impacting society, we know that our country will be better if its citizens are better. If people respect ideas and one another, then a great nation can exist. Without considered respect, a great nation withers. It is, perhaps, too bold to say that tomorrow’s leaders will benefit from this specific program, but it is very true that the leaders we would wish for the future should have the very qualities that Rusticus instills.