David Brooks: What moderation means
With the US Presidential Election rapidly approaching after what many of us regard as an acrimonious campaign, I thought this was a timely and topical column, published by the NYT and IHT. Here is a section:
It occurred to me that this might be a good time to describe what being a moderate means.
First, let me describe what moderation is not. It is not just finding the midpoint between two opposing poles and opportunistically planting yourself there. Only people who know nothing about moderation think it means that.
Moderates start with a political vision, but they get it from history books, not philosophy books. That is, a moderate isn't ultimately committed to an abstract idea. Instead, she has a deep reverence for the way people live in her country and the animating principle behind that way of life. In America, moderates revere the fact that we are a nation of immigrants dedicated to the American dream - committed to the idea that each person should be able to work hard and rise.
This animating principle doesn't mean that all Americans think alike. It means that we have a tradition of conflict. Over the centuries, we have engaged in a series of long arguments around how to promote the American dream - arguments that pit equality against achievement, centralization against decentralization, order and community against liberty and individualism.
The moderate doesn't try to solve those arguments. There are no ultimate solutions. The moderate tries to preserve the tradition of conflict, keeping the opposing sides balanced. She understands that most public issues involve trade-offs. In most great arguments, there are two partially true points of view, which sit in tension. The moderate tries to maintain a rough proportion between them, to keep her country along its historic trajectory.
Americans have prospered over the centuries because we've kept a rough balance between things like individual opportunity and social cohesion, local rights and federal power. At any moment, new historical circumstances, like industrialization or globalization, might upset the balance. But the political system gradually finds a new equilibrium.
David Fuller's view While David Brooks is referring to governance in America, I would be surprised if this column did not also resonate with people in other democracies around the world, as it did with me.
You will find more interesting and topical columns by David Brooks on this link.