The Radical Centrist™

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Radcen’s Rules for Debate

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Six years ago today I started this blog, and overall have found it enjoyable and worthwhile. I find the writing to be beneficial in it allows me to think more about a topic with a purpose in mind, rather than random thoughts looking for squirrels. I find the “centrist” perspective to be sorely lacking and my hopes are to contribute to filling that niche.

All that being said, here’s some rules for the blog and for interaction in posting and responding…

Radcen’s Rules for Debate

1.  If you ask me my opinion, I will answer, but I expect you to provide your opinion, also, especially if asked.  It’s a discussion, remember? Unless my “Spidey Sense” is warning me you might be disingenuous and trying to lure me into a “got’cha! trap”, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and answer. But… a one-way street this is not. I will generally ask you once. After that if you think it’s going to be a one-sided affair you’re wrong.  I will pretty much ignore you.

2.  I will NOT argue.  I will openly discuss, but if it’s not civil I will cut it off.  Dignity needs to return to social and political discourse, and dignity starts here.

3. I might block YOU from commenting if you’re being an asshat, but I will never disabled the ability to respond and comment in general. As of this writing I have never had to do this, but I reserve the right.

4.  I will do my best to not name call.  Name calling is childish and helps no one. Especially to each other, but also to direct names like “President Cheeto”, “Obumbles the Clown”, “Shrub”, and so on. Terms like “snowflake” are fine when directed at a group of people collectively, but it would not be acceptable to ditect at each other here. Even “Barrack HUSSEIN Obama” juvenileh.  Yes, that’s his given name, but so what?  The inflection and context is clearly intended to imply questionable allegiance. And if you use any variation of “*-tard”, I will shun you.  Grow up.

In the interest of full honesty I will admit I am highly amused by the nickname “Moscow Mitch” for Mitch McConnell.

5.  The mark of an adult is a willingness, in the interest of honest discussion, to concede a point every now and then.  And no, conceding a point does not equal conceding the entire argument, nor does it set you back in the discussion, it just means you are a reasonable thinking person and it actually gives your point-of-view more weight. Hard to believe, but not every topic is clear-cut and one-sided… then again I guess that’s what defines a “centrist”.

So there ya go!

 

The Pitfalls of Being a Centrist

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As a Centrist what gets under your skin the most?  Or, as Peter Griffin might say, “As a Centrist, you know what grinds my gears?”

For me, being labeled one side or the other by far left/right people trying to bait me.  Especially when I’ve been dealing with them long enough that I know they know better.  I’m sorry, but that’s not an intellectually honest way to discuss.  It’s shady, downright duplicitous.  Dishonest.  There’s nothing worse than a dishonest debater.

If you defend something liberal a conservative will come along and accuse you of being a liberal.  If you then turn around and defend something conservative, yep, you guessed it, some liberal will trot in and accuse you of being a conservative.

They’re so deeply consumed with their own side they utterly fail to notice the nuances in your arguments and that you actually defend both sides from time to time.  Or, maybe they do, but are concerned more with winning the argument and less concerned with the actual topic.  I mean, call me crazy, but each side almost always has points where they’re correct. Inconceivable to some, apparently.  Then again, I guess if they were able to recognize nuance they’d be Centrists and not whack-job partisans.

That’s what I do.  If a particular point is valid, I will say so.  And sometimes I might even have a run of one side over the other, but not to worry, if you pay attention I’ll be back.  That doesn’t mean I’ve gone to that side. It just means I looked at the issue more objectively and judged the issue, I didn’t knee-jerk to some pre-approved conclusion.

So… what to do?  Well, about the only thing you can do is rise above it.  Correct where practical, but understand that some people aren’t going to hear a word you say, so simply disengage and walk away.  Especially if it’s someone you don’t know anyway.

Why I Don’t Vote in Primaries

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I used to. I used to get all worked up for primaries. I considered them critical to the legitimacy of my choice in November. Then my attitude slowly changed as my “lean” changed.

To give a bit of a recap on my political journey… I started off as a solid Republican. Not whack-jobbish like today or a Tea Partier, but solidly conservative per the dictionary definition, not the extreme political definition. Then slow but sure I went more Libertarian. Even as a Republican I always had a strong streak of belief in personal liberty and freedom. I mean, as long as you’re not hurting others, why can’t people simply be left alone?

Libertarianism has its faults, too, I found out. The hard core Libertarians are out of touch with reality and, in my opinion, don’t have the slightest clue about human nature. So as I became disenchanted with that I started feeling that I belonged in the center. There are issues where I take the hard-line conservative side, and there are issues where I take the hard-line liberal side. Many issues I am a mix-and-match. Do not mistake me for a moderate. A moderate is still of one of the two major parties, just less fervent. I am not that, as I just now explained.

Anyway, it was around the mid-to-late 1990s that I changed my voter registration to “Decline to state”… not ‘Independent’, as that is a party itself… and I have been so ever since. And here’s is why I refuse to participate in primaries: I do not want either party to claim me as a supporter in any way, shape, or form. My utter disdain for both major parties is such that I do not want either party to count me as a supporter even if it’s as just a number or faceless name on a voting roll.

That’s it. Now, every decision should be made carefully, and I have done so on this one. For everything gained, you almost always have to give something up, and my attitude that I want to remain truly independent means that I also have to give up voting in the primaries. The exchange is acceptable to me. My personal stance to not be associated with either party is very important to me and outweighs the downside. Another downside is that I have to concede that others make my November choice(s) for me, but that is acceptable to me, as well.

Having said that, I did register as a Democrat for a short period in 2016. California had straight party primaries (they have changed their system to a non-partisan blanket primary since I left), but I now live in Iowa and I wanted to experience a caucus. I chose the Dems not because I supported Hillary or Bernie, I didn’t, but simply because I thought it’d be the most interesting of the two. I promptly returned to “No party” on my voter registration after the caucuses were done. (I may do it again in 2020. Haven’t decided yet. It was most certainly intellectually fascinating.)

If you believe either party gives one whit about you, you’re kidding yourself. By being a non-affiliated Centrist I am making my stand, however small it may be, to say to the parties that I am not swayed by them and their selfish agendas.

Out with the Old, In with the New: Where Do We Go From Here?

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Today is the last day of 2017.  Politically, where do we go from here?

Tough question, isn’t it?  I mean, we all individually know which direction we should go, just whichever direction we would choose for everybody to go, right?  If everyone would just agree to be on the same page… preferably MY page… life would be so much better.  There, problem solved.

And there’s a lot of truth to that.  If everyone would just agree to agree, things would get done, life would be easy, and everything would be great.  As true as it is, it’s also the peak of naivete.  This is not how people work and think.  This notion that people even can come together is an idealized fantasy… with a dash of arrogance thrown in for good measure.

Now, I’ve long thought, in a theoretical sense, that literally ANY political ideology and system would work as long as everyone is on the same page.  Conservatism, progressivism, socialism, communism, fascism… even libertarianism… doesn’t matter.  If everyone is on the same page, then everyone is working from the same set of rules and expectations and goals, and things will work out just fine.  daily life would be relatively stress-free and without conflict.  If everyone is on board with an authoritarian fascist regime, then there will be few problems and things will run smoothly.  If everyone desires a selfless communist society (per paper theory, not how they actually play out in the real world), then that can happen just as easily and there would be few problems.

But there will be problems, regardless the belief system.  Always.  Without exception.  Why?  Because it is a fact that not all people are hard-wired identically.  Not everyone is an authoritarian fascist.  Nor is everyone a progressive, or a conservative, or a <whatever>.  People think differently, even when from the same upbringing and social environment, and as such react and respond differently.

And this is where people on the extreme ends of any political spectrum fall off the boat.  People on the extremes believe… sincerely, I’ll grant… that their way is the only best way, and that if everyone one else would just come to accept that, all would be good. Unfortunately, this is blind denial of reality, this is blind denial of simple basic human nature, and will cause any ideology or system to have serious issues, with the most extreme of them eventually outright failing.

The arrogant aspect comes in when people believe that their way is right and the other ways are wrong.  No allowance for nuance or degree.  No meeting in the middle.  Compromise is verboten.  Their way, or the highway.  And this is why I have evolved, I believe, to being a Centrist.  I recognize that people are different, and I accept it.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own conclusions that I think are best for everybody as well, I just recognize the differences that do exist, and maybe as kind of a negative fatalistic response, have developed a corresponding cynicism.

So, in the spirit of new beginnings that a new year brings, where will we go from here?  Sadly, we’ll continue on as we always have.  Don’t expect anything different.  Happy New Year!  🙂

The Aftermath

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I didn’t see that one coming.  I’m not sure anybody did.  In spite of what Mr Trump says, I do not believe he did, either.  All the so-called experts and pollsters predicted an easy Hillary Clinton win.  Oopsie!

Let me be clear:  I am NOT happy that Donald Trump won.  I am also not disappointed that Hillary Clinton lost.  Ok, so where do I go with that?  I feel like I should list my Facebook status as “It’s Complicated”, as that’s how I feel about my relationship with my country right now.

We’ll flesh this out as time goes by.  I have several initial thoughts, and should have posted sooner, but hey, life gets busy sometimes.  I’ve been observing, and I have been intently interested in the reactions of Democrats and liberals.  Being a dedicated and cynical Centrist I didn’t have a dog in the fight, per se, but many others did and let’s just say they haven’t been acting… well, we’ll leave that for another post.

Hold tight… it’s going to be quite the ride!