The words “moderate” and
“compromise” have become pejoratives along with “liberal” and “conservative”. It’s become easy to categorize people into neat little
niches with simple words and one-size-fits-all catch phrases, but it serves no
purpose.
We’ve
become a culture of extreme branding. Those that aren’t like-minded are
demonized in terms that demean the accused’s humanity and the accuser’s as
well. Our opposition can’t simply be guilty of having a different approach.
They have to be evil incarnate. A change in law or policy that we disagree with
must be portrayed as something that tears at the fundamental fabric of our
society.
In the
political arena, the polarized extremists are intolerant of their moderate
colleagues even as they seek the votes of moderate in-betweens in order to get
elected. When debating policy, they do not look for an acceptable middle ground
through compromise. It’s all or nothing. A government of domination by the
extremes can easily lead to a “tyranny of the minority” and the extremists
don’t consider the alternatives to this uncompromising strategy if it fails.
They ignore the wishes of the majority of the population which does not
actually favor the extreme positions held by those on either the far right or
the far left.
Extreme
authoritarian power often ends with an extreme backlash in response where more
is lost than was gained. We need to seek out and elect those who are willing to
pick up the mantle of “moderate” and the practice of “compromise” before we
have irreparably damaged our country.