How to make Radical Centrism work
To make Radical Centrism work you need to: (1) Have a contrarian spirit, be willing to take views that may be unpopular with a majority. Contrarians thrive on their independent-minded outlook, however, and develop ways to "fit in" with others even when people disagree. It can be done -think of HL Mencken in the past or Ross Douthat today- if your Radical Centrist views are important to you and you make the effort. (2) Be willing to do a lot of research. This is why a basic principle of Radical Centrism is that any political position you take a public stand on should be researched. You will catch flak for expressing opinions that 'cut against the grain,' and you will be on the defensive constantly unless you really know your stuff. But if you do make yourself well informed and do some serious thinking about what you learn, you may well have the satisfaction of being able to "turn" arguments your way. (3) Really have a commitment to the values you favor. Which is why your positions should be strong, not tepid or half-hearted. These are issues that you actually "believe in." They matter to you. You will defend them, no matter what. Even better, you will try to convince others that the values you champion should also be their values. This is radical, not moderate, in spirit. But this depends on knowing what you are talking about, and that requires a lot of homework. You cannot deduce your way to truth. Simply reflecting on the current situation and applying elements of popular wisdom to an issue gets you nowhere. This is not about opinion, it is about truth and about truth in opposition to falsehood or in opposition to half-baked essentially unresearched ideas. Radical Centrist values must be based on knowledge -hard won knowledge. there is no substitute for knowledge. Just as there is no substitute for integrity. (4) Be eager to look for what has genuine worth in each part of the political spectrum. It isn't much of a problem to see the faults in partisan positions, but this is the opposite approach, seeking to learn from people who you often disagree with precisely because they are partisan. Do you make an effort to learn from people with whom you disagree? This is one hallmark of Radical Centrism. This does not mean compromise with the Devil. This is not about "finding good" in Nazism or Communism or the KKK. It is about objectivity, recognizing strengths, about the usefulness of understanding someone else's perspective, and making yourself more realistic in outlook. (5) Recognize that at the current stage of things Radical Centrism is a philosophy in the process of being born. At this kind of stage in any new philosophy the tendency is to equate it with something else, as if it is basically derivative. Which I know from experience since even after becoming a self-identified Radical Centrist I still thought of RC as more-or-less an alternative form of classical liberalism for about 10 years. But, while there is some truth to that formulation, it has become very clear that Radical Centrism is itself, it is not a version of liberalism or conservatism or libertarianism or, for that matter, of "centrism" as the word is usually understood. Arguments about being true to the principles of liberalism or centrism, etc, are pointless. What we need to do is create and refine an altogether new political philosophy with its own perspective, its own set of values, and its own modus operandi. Radical Centrism is all about ruthless honesty, about willingness to see things in a new perspective, and originality. In so many words, Radical Centrism is about starting over and doing it right this time. -- -- 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/d/optout.
