This misses most of the substance of RC and, I think, is off base in its main contention, but nonetheless a thoughtful essay. BR _Centrist Guy_ (http://centristguy.wordpress.com/) …I guess I'd call it Rustbelt Centrism.
_Divorcing Oneself from “Radical” Centrism_ (http://centristguy.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/divorcing-oneself-from-radical-centrism/) _April 21, 2013_ (http://centristguy.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/divorcing-oneself-from-radical-centrism/) I spent about a decade in the thrall of “Radical” Centrism due to the promise of objectivity when making political decisions. What finally dislodged me from my trance was in realizing that, regarding politics, there’s actually at least two levels of objectivity. #1. On the first level, there’s the identification stage. Let’s say you’re given a simple “should we do this?” question that results in a yes-or-no answer. Like a good pragmatist, you consider the subject beforehand, and then conceive of all possible changes that would occur as a result of the action. If you identify the changes, and they’re tangible, then you could make a case for having gained objective knowledge. Yes, you could still get into some obnoxious philosophical argument about the value of something particular metaphysical quality. For the sake of getting things done, though, let’ s tentatively accept that if you have done the legwork and have identified that doing action Z to object A causes B, C, and D, then you have some objective knowledge. A good number of ideologies attempt to convince voters to stop here, expecting that the simple statement of facts make the conclusions obvious. “Duh, don’t liberals/conservatives know that doing X will lead to Y? We should to be doing Z.” It is in this normative word “should” that we get to: #2. The second level involves making an “objective decision” based on that knowledge. Conservatives and liberals argue back and forth about having captured objectivity and accuse the other side of being wrong. David Hume stated that you can’t infer an “ought” from an “is”– essentially, you can’t bundle a series of facts (the ones you’ve collected in #1) and make a normative statement based on that information. “Is” to “ought” is an uncrossable bridge. There is nothing about the statement, “the traffic light is red” that, in itself, tells you to do something. Rather, it is your desire to be a law abiding citizen that causes you to stop rather than run the light. You see a red light and you weigh “hm, I could run this and get home two minutes earlier” against “I do not want to get pulled over and get a $50 ticket”. Dominant ideologies in the United States depend upon your normative connections to facts to push their “objectivity”. But that’s OK. Normatives are required for systemic rationality. When you notice this, you realize that ideologies rely on a series of, basically, commandments against your conscience and inclinations. “Radical” Centrism is much the same in that it appeals to individuals who have some inclination towards a common set of principles or vision. …or an inclination AGAINST a set of dominant set of principles and visions. This is where things get dangerous. Radical Centrism rallies against the false dilemma (left vs right), but itself gains adherents by creating a second false dilemma (centrism vs left/right). But I’ve seen the shadows on the cave wall and, while I’ll continue to advocate for the same vision as it aligns with my inclinations, I’ll be more open about my normative vision for the country, as openness is a value I appreciate. The United States is a pluralistic, democratic country which pits interest vs. interest– the benefit of which is that, rather than banging my fists on the table and demanding recognition of my correctness, I can instead concentrate on creating normative bridges that appeal to others. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
