The "moderate" fallacy Here is the basic problem with self-identification as a moderate: No-one who has a conscience, who is reasonably well-informed politically, can possibly be a moderate on most (most) issues of any consequence. That is, you cannot even be a moderate outside of a political consensus. Guess what? There is no political consensus in the United States, there has not been one for at least 30 years. This is exactly the problem that Radical Centrism addresses. Here is a short list of contentious issues: Hate crimes and hate speech Obscene maldistribution of wealth in America with 1% now controlling nearly half of the nation's economic resources Strip mining of coal Immigration policy Abortion Homosexuality Religious freedom issues, viz, denial of conscience Military intervention Islam, terrorism, etc About which of these issues are you "moderate"? Sure, I'm all for horse trading. You want better roads for you constituents and I want better port facilities for mine. OK, let's make a deal. But there is consensus on issues like these, no-one says that roads are a bad idea or that we can dispense with international trade. Questions are matters of degree, or budget priorities, or maybe competition with other interests -another person wants better airports, still another wants more cops on the beat. However, how in hell can you be moderate or 'centrist' on hot button issues? You can't, it is impossible, you need to take a stand based on principle. And what does "moderate" really mean in current political discourse? We all know the answer: Cave in to the Left, accept Political Correctness views of social issues, or, the next best thing, cave in to the RINOs and the interests of don't-rock-the-boat establishment gros legumes, who, on social issues, are little different than Democrats. But suppose you detest the ill-informed opinions of the lunatic/ naive Right as much as the opinions of Leftists / RINOs? This is what RC is all about, finding a solid, intellectually defensible, principled alternative to both the Left and the Right. "Moderate" means the Left is normative or the RINO wing of the Republican Party. It is possible to have a very different outlook, such as the Left and the RINOs are both full of s**t and don't deserve the least respect and should be fought at every turn because their views are downright WRONG and are sometimes objectively EVIL. Do you buy into the narrative of the Left and its values? " " " " " " " RINOs and their values? This is what being a "moderate" is all about, not anything else. But there is one other thing, "moderate" also means appeasement. The "hero" of moderates is Neville Chamberlain -whether they acknowledge any such thing or even know who Chamberlain was. In our era the appeasement isn't for the sake of Hitler but for the sake of militant homosexuals, or militant feminists, or anti-free-speech militants like the SPLC. Yet appeasement it is, up and down the line. Moderate, as well, means buying into mass media propaganda as if the news media was in some other business than ceaseless lying to the American people. Moderate is also an excuse to not make yourself informed, to let others do your thinking for you, and, above all, to not do serious research to make yourself informed. But, hey, why bother? There are 100 excuses that anyone can think of at a moment's notice to not do any meaningful research and that is all the excuse necessary to "go along to get along," to appease others, to swim with the current, to conform to the crowd. Much as I often criticize libertarians I will say one thing for them and it is damned important: Politics is about standing up for what you really believe is right no matter what a perceived majority says. Moderates have a totally different attitude; for them politics is about acquiescence. As I understand it, Radical Centrism is about war, a war of ideas, a war for hearts and minds, and a war to the death. Because politics really matters. Want to take part in a really good fight? That is what Radical Centrism is really all about. It is the opposite of the moderate mantra, which is "peace at any price." Radical Centrism is based on the principle, "victory at any price." When Radical Centrists win Leftists lose and RINOs lose and if I have anything to say about it they will lose everything. Billy
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