“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” ― Admiral James Stockdale
Admiral James Stockdale, a 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, became a pilot and served in the Navy for over twenty years. While receiving his master’s degree in international relations at Stanford, he began to study stoic philosophy and the teachings of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus. It wasn’t until 1965, after flying almost 200 combat missions in Vietnam, that circumstances put these teachings to the test. After the North Vietnamese shot down his plane, they captured and sent him to the infamous POW camp, the “Hanoi Hilton,” known for its brutality, where they imprisoned him for almost eight years. While in captivity, “he was repeatedly tortured, denied medical attention, [and] kept in solitary confinement.” Additionally, as the highest-ranking officer in the prison, he was charged with leading his companions and aimed to ensure they all returned home safely together.
Upon his release and return to the United States, Jim Collins asked in an interview what kept him going when so many around him had fallen. Admiral Stockdale explained he “never lost faith in the end of the story. [He] never doubted not only that [he] would get out, but also that [he] would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of [his] life.” He continued, “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” In essence, Admiral Stockdale noted that overly optimistic people were constantly disappointed when relief did not come. This concept was also coined by Viktor Frankl, a prisoner of a German concentration camp, as “tragic optimism, that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy.” Likewise, prisoners need enough confidence to confront the challenge in front of them. It is essential to have an unwavering faith in oneself. Stockdale’s philosophy was deeply rooted in his stoic teaching, drawing from another person enslaved, Epictetus, who said, “What, then, is to be done? To make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it naturally happens.”
This balance between realism and optimism has been coined as the Stockdale Paradox and is a cornerstone of stoic philosophy. Made famous in Jim Collin’s book From Good to Great, psychologists have seen it as an optimal philosophy when facing a crisis. Leaders around the world have relied on this strategy to face unprecedented challenges, from global pandemics to recessions.
The anti-human trafficking movement is in an equally drastic crisis. Human trafficking, as a $150 billion industry, is estimated to be the second most profitable illegal industry worldwide, only behind drug trafficking. Further, the State Department, using data from the International Labour Organization, believes there are approximately 27.6 million people worldwide who fit its definition of being trafficked. These numbers, while shocking, are also hindered by the limitations of data collecting, and the amount of commerce and people affected may be even larger. The battle to combat human trafficking can appear on the surface to be a losing one, and those with the hope of eradicating the practice altogether are setting themselves up for constant disappointment. On the other hand, when a problem is this endemic, it can be equally as easy to turn away from it altogether, declaring that if we cannot eradicate it, it is not worth searching for marginal gains. As Admiral Stockdale would observe, the optimists and the pessimists suffer all the same when confronted with massive problems.
At the Human Trafficking Institute, the dedicated team adheres to the concept of “decimating” human trafficking. To decimate, meaning to reduce by ten percent, can be seen as a strategy that adheres to Admiral Stockdale’s principle of striking a balance between facing realities head-on and not being too optimistic or pessimistic regarding the fight against human trafficking. The decimation principle does not aim to eradicate human trafficking altogether; rather, it recognizes three unequivocal truths. First, traffickers are the primary drivers of trafficking. Second, traffickers are rational actors. Third, if enough traffickers are held accountable and brought to justice, it will deter other traffickers by changing their cost-benefit analysis. In doing so, the obtainable goal of reducing human trafficking by ten percent, i.e., decimating it, has a substantial and cascading effect on the problem. Further, for every trafficker removed from the trafficking landscape—through deterrence or by arresting them—it is likely a victim is also removed, making it worthwhile.
As Admiral Stockdale knew he would make it home alive, the anti-trafficking community must know it will forever change the human trafficking landscape through the principle of decimation. Doing so with the same courage and realism that Admiral Stockdale faced in his captivity can be a helpful tool when attacking the unrelenting fire that is human trafficking.
