Radical Centrism: The Politics of Everything that Matters There is nothing "moderate" about Radical Centrism -which is precisely why the word "radical" is added to "centrism" in the phrase that designates our political philosophy. This does not mean that about a limited number of issues a moderate solution to a problem is out of the question, but, by definition, such solutions can only be occasional, not usual. Radical Centrism is based on the foundational principle that for all politics we need to answer the question: "Objectively, what is right?" This necessarily will be hard to answer because politics is complicated. Politics is multi-dimensional, it includes within it, the interests of many competing population groups. The interests and insights of various political actors are also part of the mix -speaking of bankers, economists, Wall Street investors, businessmen and women, military people, educators, religious believers, scientists and engineers, lawyers, trade union members, environmentalists, law enforcement officers, the cultural classes, senior citizens, single women, ethnic or racial minorities, journalists, entertainers, and many others. There is no neat calculus available to deal with this kind of complexity and we necessarily need to use informal lessons of experience, need to make use of whatever seems relevant from our education, and need to use our -imperfect- best judgment. Radical Centrists start with the proposition that all current political systems, including all political ideologies, are fundamentally flawed because they are too reductionist. This is true whether we are discussing Marxism or libertarianism, liberalism or conservatism, nationalism or the Washington economic consensus. And this is certainly true when discussing centrism per se. Radical Centrists don't seek a "middle ground," although RC is all about "seizing the center." This is because Radical Centrism is based on the principle that we must seek to find out what is objectively right whether what is right is found among liberals or conservatives or anyone else. This is possible, even if it may be difficult and take time, if we do our homework and thoroughly research the issues which most concern us and demand our attention. Politicians, in other words, should be, in part, political scientists, social scientists, social psychologists, and whatever else is necessary to find out what is objectively right. Politicians need to be more than this, of course, they need to get elected and that takes a different set of skills, everything from the art of persuasion to public speaking abilities and knowledge of the media. There also is a philosophical dimension of politics and this is crucial. Not in the sense of academic thinkers discussing abstract principles but in the sense of -depending on circumstances- Machiavelli, Hobbes, or Alexander Hamilton, for example, thinkers who were practical politicians as well as political theorists. Hence Radical Centrism needs to be a politics of everything that matters. It cannot and should not seek to reduce everything to the virtue of reconciliation, or to some economic worldview as if all our problems would magically disappear if only everyone believed in free trade, or to arguments about social justice. Those approaches, and all other simplistic approaches, are false by definition. This is especially true with respect to the view that all we need is freedom. Of course we need freedom, but it is only a condition for success and there is a helluva lot more that we need to think about and seek in the real world And as much as it sometimes is important to compromise in order to accomplish anything in politics, Radical Centrism has almost nothing in common with the Dick Morris view that the path to success necessarily involves "triangulation," an operational geometry that gets us to the middle through a process of horse trading. Versatility is vital to Radical Centrism. We need to cultivate a range of political skills, not just one or two and think that is all we really need to know. A politics of everything that matters needs to do two things at once, stay true to our principles but always be flexible so that dangers can be avoided and opportunities taken advantage of when they arise. It needs to be patriotic but respect the patriotism of people in other countries. It needs to be grounded on traditions that have served us well in history while at the same time being open to creating a sometimes very non-traditional future. Above all, Radical Centrism needs to be realistic. Its politics needs to be a form of Realpolitik. It must always also ask the question: What works? And what works may be maximum public disclosure, or transparency, or it may be stealth and intrigue. What works may be accommodation to demographic groups but it could just as well be emphasis on general principles that have the potential to inspire multitudes. Negative ads work, for instance, and while there may be good reasons to dislike this approach, we need to ask ourselves why they work. And the fact is that people demand criticism of others so that they can identify their weaknesses and make judgements about someone's character and propensity to make damaging mistakes. You simply cannot find out something like that if all you do is emphasize someone's accomplishments. Sometimes appeal to morality works; there have been many moral crusades in American political history. We should never overlook the power of moral appeals. However, there is morality for the best and morality for the sake of some special interest and if the former is medicine the latter is poison. We need to be very clear about this. And we need to understand -viscerally- that it is crucial to lead public opinion rather then being subservient to it. The public may well be wrong; in the current political environment it often is wrong. Precisely because of this fact, we must seek to know what is right, objectively, and base everything we do on convincing others to do what is right. Billy September 2015
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