Just caught a post on Blue Sky that said, "A reasonable and moderate opposition party will never ever ever ever ever ever permanently defeat and displace an extremist ruling party."
I posted in response, "Thus assuring that we never have reasonable government."
While the opposition party in this moment has to act with strategy, strength, and resolve, the power of any party derives from the voters. Say what you will about the influence of big money, big money exerts its influence by brainwashing little voters in large numbers. By scorning moderation and reason, you lock yourself into an endless cycle of lashing back and forth between extremes. That will never ever ever ever ever make the United States trusted and respected globally. It will weaken our country permanently -- if it hasn't been so weakened already by the fact that voters chose to install the most destructive and unstable executive branch in history in our last election.
The damage of that executive branch is compounded by the anti-democratic Supreme Court majority, and the authoritarian Republican Party in general.
We need to get to reasonable government and work to stay there. Extreme rhetoric and actions from the far ends of the political spectrum serve no one but their insane disciples.
That being said, I acknowledge that the current threat to our very existence calls for powerful action. But don't expect miracles from the minority party. Every citizen needs to engage in the endless process of persuasion to get voters in large numbers to vote for the policies that will get us to a government that takes care of its people instead of its corporations. The power comes from the people and the responsibility rests there to keep pressing. If that's too much trouble, kick back and hope that you get lucky with the next dictator and the one after that and so on. Or commit to generation after generation of bloodshed in extremist confrontations.
Extremism in defense of liberty is a vice, because extremism can't help but curtail liberty. The extremist personality is fundamentally self righteous. That's not a trait you want in power.
Commitment is not extremism. Staunch opposition to the unreasonability of extreme authoritarianism is not counter-extremism. Truly effective government calls for thoughtful, deliberate action. Inclusivity is always more complicated than exclusion. Extremism narrows its view and resorts to coercion. You might claim that extreme actions are just for now, but in the aftermath you discover how many war crimes your own side has committed. You find yourself as a besieged revolutionary government crushing dissent to defend itself.
Extremism is dumb. Theirs is narrow minded and nasty, and ours would be, too.
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