CENTRISM
Today I read a New York Times opinion piece by Jennifer Rubin arguing that what is necessary in a democracy is centrism. Democracy needs to be able to accept the possibility that each side of a polarizing issue has value and that every issue has two sides with each side being useful. Centrism means listening to both sides of the political spectrum and trying to incorporate the values of each perspective. This is hard to do and requires humility and the need to listen patiently and requires us to search for a middle ground.
I think she is saying, better than my summary of what she is saying, is what I have been feeling my way toward in these posts. The only way to have a strong multicultural country is to listen to each other, really listen, and see where this takes us. The opposite of this is to refuse to listen and to jeer at each other, calling names, until we work ourselves into such a frenzy that violence erupts.
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 