Extreme Moderation
Our democracy needs an army of militant centrists
The editors of the Economist, a centrist political and economic magazine coming out from the UK, wrote a scathing editorial on American politics. They say that because the Republicans refuses to disavow Donald Trump, the preservation of American democracy is entirely reliant on the Democratic Party. But the Democratic party has become prey to extreme ideas from the far left, they write. In order to win the next elections, the editors say that the leaders need to jettison the progressive wing of the party. Their woke nonsense is distracting party leaders from handling the real problem of stabilizing our democracy and leaving us open to the real danger of Trump 2.0 in 2024.
Some Democrats minimize the impact of identity politics coming out of their Progressive wing. Privately, they might admit that those issues are juvenile and pointless, but then quickly pivot to extreme politics of their opponents. Why are we even wasting time critiquing woke politics, when the other side won’t recognize that a pregnancy in a 10-year old is a horrific thing, they say.
Yes, that’s true, but so are elections. And all that identity politics/woke stuff have been a slow drip of toxicity for many years. People don’t think that the Democratic Party represents them, and if you actually want to win elections, that’s a problem.
I follow several Facebook pages and newsletters aimed at parents in New Jersey, who became mobilized by the extreme pandemic shutdown policies for schools. Schools are open, masks are gone, but those parents are still angry and still mobilized. Their latest issue is the new sex education curriculum being mandated by Trenton. The new curriculum includes information about gender identity in elementary school and anal sex for 8th graders.
At least around here, people aren’t fans of Trump and are uncomfortable with the Republican positions on abortion and guns, but they really don’t want their kids to learn about anal sex in eighth grade. They might vote Republican in the next election. Or they might just walk away from politics all together.
Amanda Ripley, a journalist with two decades of experience, admits she doesn’t read the news, because she hates the never ending depressing stories. I’m sure she’s not alone; a lot of people have tuned out the news. I am definitely consuming more light, lifestyle-type information on social media than I did in the past.
Perhaps we need moderation, not just in politics, but in our consumption of news. A little is good, even necessary. When we read too much political news, we get sucked into extreme, conspiracy theory holes in the Internet and just get depressed.
That’s why I sometimes limit my own politics consumption by focusing on my key issues, like education policy, and then try to live a good life with family, travel, and good food. Rather than shooting out endless tweets about autism rights, maybe I do more good by taking a group of lonely, autistic boys to the movies on a Friday night. I tell myself that moderation is always best.
But is that the right way to handle things? I started this article talking about a really serious threat to our democracy. And then segued into the other big discussion of the week — people are burned out with politics and the media, and ground down by long debates about sex education and gender pronouns. However, a serious threat cannot be handled by moderation. If a disenfranchised public is addicted to Instagram influencers and fake cheerfulness on the morning shows, then there is no way to ward off extremism.
We have to pay attention. We have to care. We need extreme moderation, an army of militant centrists, to preserve our democracy.
LINKS
Incredible article by @AlecMacGillis with heroic profiles of the people living through the crime surge in Phila. Still reading it. School shutdowns and online actives during the pandemic play a role in this ongoing tragedy.
Covid learning loss is a global disaster.
Echoing my last newsletter, Tom Nichols in the Atlantic writes that Americans with their everyday acts of goodness and normality will help the country survive this momentary chaos.
Average rent in NYC is $5,000 per month.
Latinos, particularly Cubans, are not a sure-thing for Democrats. Their willingness to vote for Trump, over Biden, is quite concerning.
Watching: Ian and his friends loved Thor. Steve and I were amused. It was better than Top Gun. We finished Ms. Marvel, which is sadly one of the worst Marvel shows. Last night, we watched the disappointing finale to Peaky Blinders. We have to pick our next show to binge-watch, so we’re using the Emmy nomination list to see what we’ve missed. Maybe Euphoria.
Adventuring: All my tips for traveling to New Paltz, New York. This coming weekend, Steve and I are going away on our own without our sidekick. WOOOOOTTTT. We love Ian, but it’s sometime good to have some alone time. Jonah’s here to watch Ian, so we’re going to spend the weekend at a hipster motel in the Catskills. Starting to plan a trip to Montreal and Quebec City for August.
Cooking: Everything is about the farmer’s market right now. Steve made pork chops on the grill with a top notch spice rub. I boiled some new potatoes and then put them in a bowl with butter (put the hot potatoes on top of the cold butter), sea salt, and rosemary from the garden. Chopped dill in sour cream on the side. Grilled squash. Roasted orange and purple carrots. Fresh lettuce. All super simple. Mostly flavored with olive oil, salt, and love.
