Political Extremism Can Contain All Sides

Reading the recent letter on extremism in today’s politics, I was moved to write to express the following thoughts from a historical perspective. Despite recent years, I think most rational people, except perhaps Barry Goldwater, who has considered the issue, would agree with the basic principle that extremism as a basis for government policy is undesirable. It is ironic, perhaps, that the writer refers to the founding fathers and their acceptance of John Locke’s philosophy and other Enlightenment principles. I’m not sure, but I bet old King George would have considered his ideas for his colonies to be extreme.

This is the underlying problem in the writer’s premise. One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. Some of the virtuous and intelligent developments in the social and political culture of this country were the result of people, thoughts and movements initially considered radical and extreme for the prevailing social norms. In almost every case, ideas and movements were fought with social and/political exclusion, insult and ostracism. Others were outlawed, leading advocates were silenced and arrested. Abolitionists, suffragists, Upton Sinclair and other bigots, trust busters and New Dealers were challenged as extremes. The civil rights movement, gay/transgender advocates, and gun control advocates are challenged daily as un-American, unconstitutional, and threatening to the fabric of an American culture that may never have existed in the first place. This is not limited to America. Gandhi, Mandela and Sadat/Begin were extremists in search of just progress.

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To me, the greatness of America and its people is their ability to assess these moves and ultimately ensure that the right side prevails. Ah, but there I go again. My “right side” is surely someone else’s devil side. Perhaps this is the greatness of the American. In a Trump-free political world, two Americans, with full respect for each other, can disagree without lingering anger, insults, or animosity.