A Philosophy of Action There is, in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, a philosophy of Radical Centrism. It is not an academic philosophy, it is a philosophy of virtue and pragmatism. And above all, it is a philosophy of action. This is not to endorse each and every statement that TR ever made. He was a man of his era, which means that he shared any number of biases of the early 20th century in the United States. Some , by justifiable early 21st century standards, are out of order. But others are a perfect antidote to early 21st century madness, especially to that form of insanity often characterized as multi-culturalism or Political Correctness. The purpose of this collection of quotations is to use the words of one of America's greatest presidents to debunk current "wisdom" that is, instead, contemporary lunacy. For there is no better rebuttal to today's Left than Roosevelt's unshakable belief in Manifest Destiny and no better rejoinder to the current political Right than his faith in Darwinian evolution and competition between individuals and nations in the struggle for success in life. There now is, among Libertarians and others, a so-called "revisionist" view of TR which attacks him as contrary to Libertarian principles. This same critique sometimes includes an attack on Abraham Lincoln. It is counterpart to the revisionism of the Left which attacks George Washington and other founding fathers as supposedly inferior to "enlightened" ( that is, neo-Marxist ) moderns with new and improved values. Indeed, the Left sometimes also attacks Teddy Roosevelt for its own reasons. Speaking personally, such views strike me as having all the charm of other "revisionists" who seek to rehabilitate Hitler or Mussolini and to excuse the many failings of Fascism. Not to mention the fact that all such uses of the word "revisionism" are gross corruptions of the original meaning of the term as used by Democratic Socialists a century ago, revising the early philosophy of Socialism so that its past errors are jettisoned and so that a new politics which better speaks to the here-and-now can replace orthodox Marxism and shut the door firmly against Communism. Roosevelt had no use at all for Marxist Socialism, but in effect was a "revisionist" in the sense expressed by people like of Eduard Bernstein and August Bebel. Yet almost all of TR's exemplars were Americans and his form of radicalism was strictly market-centered. His whole idea was to improve the market ( including what would later be called the marketplace of ideas ) , rid it of corruptions, and make sure that whatever system we have is based on a strict interpretation of justice which does not privilege the rich over the poor. In terms of leadership and contribution to American accomplishment and greatness, few presidents come remotely close to the stature of Teddy Roosevelt. He was the chief executive who first made the United States a world power and who showed us all it is best for everyone to put national interests above almost any form of parochialism.. In other words, Theodore Roosevelt, because of his enormous contribution to the success of the United States, because he did so much to make us what we are, is a vital standard by which to judge political philosophies which now seek to influence popular opinion. Certainly TR is a giant compared to the midgets who have occupied the White House uninterruptedly for the past 30 or 40 years, including the present occupant. Which says that to the extent that Libertarians and Leftists condemn Teddy Roosevelt by that fact they condemn themselves. In other words, if you are not on the side of Teddy Roosevelt , you are on the wrong side. And , if so, it behooves you to take a hard look at your political philosophy and identify the ways it is wrong and is leading you into error. TR is an exemplar of Radical Centrism, second only to George Washington. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - These quotations are necessarily selective. Roosevelt wrote 35 books and made innumerable public speeches. He also wrote literally thousands of personal letters which are now public domain. Even with a hundred quotes there is no way to claim that these selections are comprehensive.Yet I think these quotes are characteristic of the man and his philosophy. Added up, given critical analysis, they can also be taken as basic to the outlook of Radical Centrism Radical Centrist philosophy is not for wimps. Nor is it based on triangulating to some expedient political center. Rather, it is a viewpoint that seeks to create a new center based on principles which start with the fundamental premise that neither Left nor Right can possibly be taken seriously as overall programs, that both, as well as "outliers" like Libertarianism, are fundamentally flawed in numerous particulars. What is needed is a new philosophy that is red -blooded and smart and thoroughly American in spirit. Anyone who seeks to interpret Radical Centrism as congenial to the ersatz liberalism of the Democratic Party of today is hopelessly deluded. Anyone who sees in Radical Centrism a new form of Republican outlook doesn't begin to understand its core principles. And so forth with respect to other political allegiances. Radical Centrism , besides new ideas conceived by people in the movement, combines ideas that can be found in other political philosophies but in new and unique mixtures. The mixtures which now exist in the Democratic and Republican parties we see as absurdities unfit for human consumption. Not just a little, but fundamentally. The entire outlook of American politics is due for a major overhaul. Is due for a revolution in everything but name, a revolution without guns, but a revolution nonetheless. Radical Centrists certainly have deep concerns about other nations and about the global system. But we are unabashedly American and proud of our heritage as Americans. We also believe that America has been sold down the river by established interests and that "political salvation" is impossible under either the Democratic Party or the GOP as now constituted. We are political Independents before anything else even when, for reasons of practical politics, it is necessary to vote for "lesser of evils" establishment party candidates, one way or the other, from one election to the next. Here , then, is a new way to look at modern-era politics, by reading the words of a great president who took a Radical Centrist position in his time and walked out on his previous party to create a new political organization. Which is exactly what we need today. Let us learn from the mistakes of the past so that , this time, a new political party endures and becomes dominant in the United States and leaves both Democrats and Republicans in the dust, where they belong. The words of Theodore Roosevelt are an inspiration for any American who wants to take our country back from the poor excuses for political leaders who currently run Congress and the White House. And to take our country back from the amoralists who run the entertainment industry, the news business, and the universities. Not by appeal only to a healthy philosophy, as worthwhile as TR's worldview was, but most of all by appeal to real life actions that can electrify the world. ==================================================== The Courage of Convictions of Modern America's first Radical Centrist President
Teddy Roosevelt : Quotations The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great devotions and sends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. Criticism is necessary and useful; it is often indispensable; but it can never take the place of action, or be even a poor substitute for it. A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad. We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when anyone engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal. A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education. Working women have the same need to protection that working men have; the ballot is as necessary for one class as to the other; we do not believe that with the two sexes there is identity of function; but we do believe there should be equality of right. Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft. I have a perfect horror of words that are not backed up by deeds. Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country. Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster. If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful." Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind. There were all kinds of things I was afraid of at first, ranging from grizzly bears to 'mean' horses and gun-fighters; but by acting as if I was not afraid I gradually ceased to be afraid." I think there is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head. It is true of the Nation, as of the individual, that the greatest doer must also be a great dreamer." No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause. Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck." "An epidemic in indiscriminate assault upon character does not good, but very great harm." "There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful. Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it. Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big. The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people. This country has nothing to fear from the crooked man who fails. We put him in jail. It is the crooked man who succeeds who is a threat to this country. The reactionary is always willing to take a progressive attitude on any issue that is dead. There can be no fifty-fifty Americanism in this country. There is room here for only 100% Americanism, only for those who are Americans and nothing else. The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else." To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer "Present" or "Not guilty." Death is always and under all circumstances a tragedy, for if it is not, then it means that life itself has become one. We wish to control big business so as to secure among other things good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers. We stand equally against government by a plutocracy and government by a mob. There is something to be said for government by a great aristocracy which has furnished leaders to the nation in peace and war for generations; even a democrat like myself must admit this. But there is absolutely nothing to be said for government by a plutocracy, for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with "the money touch," but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers. No hard and fast rule can be laid down as to where our legislation shall stop in interfering between man and man, between interest and interest. All that can be said is that it is highly undesirable on the one hand, to weaken individual initiative, and on the other hand, that in a constantly increasing number of cases we shall find it necessary in the future to shackle cunning as in the past we have shackled force. Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right. Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. Each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune." Each nation has its own pet sins to which it is merciful, and also sins which it treats as most abhorrent. ...it is as true now as when the tower of Siloam fell upon all alike, that good fortune does not come solely to the just, nor bad fortune solely to the unjust. When the weather is good for crops it is also good for weeds. Our words must be judged by our deeds; and in striving for a lofty ideal we must use practical methods; and if we cannot attain all at one leap, we must advance towards it step by step, reasonably content so long as we do actually make some progress in the right direction. No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar's worth of service rendered — not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective — a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion. Those who oppose all reform will do well to remember that ruin in its worst form is inevitable if our national life brings us nothing better than swollen fortunes for the few and the triumph in both politics and business of a sordid and selfish materialism. Power invariably means both responsibility and danger. The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value. Far and away the best praise that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. The absence of effective State, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise. We grudge no man a fortune which represents his own power and sagacity, when exercised with entire regard to the welfare of his fellows. The man of great wealth owes a particular obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government. The object of government is the welfare of the people." "Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us." One of the fundamental necessities in a representative government such as ours is to make certain that the men to whom the people delegate their power shall serve the people by whom they are elected, and not the special interests. I believe that every national officer, elected or appointed, should be forbidden to perform any service or receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, from interstate corporations... We draw the line against misconduct, not against wealth. It is essential that there should be organization of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize. We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity. Nine-tenths of wisdom is being wise in time. In every wise struggle for human betterment one of the main objects, and often the only object, has been to achieve in large measure equality of opportunity. In the struggle for this great end, nations rise from barbarism to civilization, and through it people press forward from one stage of enlightenment to the next. One of the chief factors in progress is the destruction of special privilege. The essence of any struggle for healthy liberty has always been, and must always be, to take from some one man or class of men the right to enjoy power, or wealth, or position, or immunity, which has not been earned by service to his or their fellows. I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life. The life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph. I do not believe that it is wise or safe for us as a party to take refuge in mere negation and to say that there are no evils to be corrected. It seems to me that our attitude should be one of correcting evils Let us make it evident that we intend to do justice. Then let us make it equally evident that we will not tolerate injustice being done us in return. Let us further make it evident that we use no words which we are not which prepared to back up with deeds.....
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