Journey to the Center

Another trend I've noticed is the tendency of those in all areas of the spectrum to claim to be closer to the "center" than their opponents. By labeling the opposition as extremists, they hope to discredit their ideas as unacceptable to the general populace, while making their own seem "normal". The irony of this is that those who employ this tactic are the ones who need to push the idea of "center" toward their own beliefs, the extremists. Because "true" centrists, if there is such a thing, generally don't disagree with either side as strongly as the opposite side does, they rarely feel compelled to join in such debates, and there is nobody to defend the idea of the "true" center.

Who are they trying to convince? Does anyone actually hold political beliefs because they believe that they are widely-accepted? "Really? That's what most people believe? I guess I should believe that too." You wanna know a secret? Most people are idiots. They're lemmings who didn't even choose for themselves which cliff to march off of, so why would those who do think for themselves be swayed by what the majority of these lemming believe, let alone what opposing extremists claim that that majority believes? Political debate isn't about where we are, it's about where we're going. Or more accurately, it's about where we believe that we should be going.

I am an extremist. More than that, I'm a radical. I want to see positive change in my lifetime. Maybe it's just because I'm still young enough for idealism, but time has fixed many of the nation's evils like slavery and segregation, and with so many more that still exist, I think its stupid to slow this progress by hanging on to the way things are. We shouldn't be seeking the center, we should be seeking the future.