The Importance of Moderation

                      The Importance of Moderation       Gerry OShea

Aristotle, the doyen of ancient philosophers, lived in Greece about four centuries before the Bethlehem event. One of his famous and oft-quoted wisdom insights praised the virtue of moderation: in medio stat virtus – the middle course is most likely to encompass wisdom and maturity.  Aristotle and his followers cast a cold eye on any extremist actions or beliefs.

Democratic elections often reflect this model resulting in the party or leader holding moderate views winning electoral contests. A sense of evenness and balance characterizes this style of government. These rulers always favor consensus over confrontation.

Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for the presidency in 1964 and a much-admired man in right-wing circles, disagreed with this approach. He warned, "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.” This principle sounds good and even noble until you unspool it and try to apply it to particular situations. Senator Goldwater was roundly defeated by the candidate representing moderation in that election, Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Pollsters play a crucial role in every modern political campaign. They tell the candidates what the voters think of their priorities. This dynamic can be seen in the ongoing abortion debate in America where Republicans promulgate what they call pro-life policies while, ironically, opposing every government anti-poverty program that would make day-to-day living more tolerable for the poor. 

In the two largest Republican-controlled states, Texas and Florida, abortion is banned in the former and only allowed during the first six weeks of pregnancy by Governor DeSantis in Tallahassee. While these strict laws please the pro-life community, multiple polls indicate that a clear majority of citizens nationwide support more moderate laws that respect a woman’s right to choose. 

This is a pressing issue impacting millions of young people and it has become a major attraction for the Democratic Party which favors a return to the liberal reproductive freedom that prevailed for fifty years after the Roe v Wade decision in 1973. For over two-thirds of Americans, banning the legal availability of abortion in all or nearly all circumstances represents extremist thinking and is justifiably considered an assault on a woman’s privacy and dignity.

Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia made a fair effort to find a middle ground on this issue by advocating for a ban on termination after fifteen weeks, but that proposal didn’t get traction with either side.

Another vital area where the opinion of about 80% of the electorate is disregarded concerns the unregulated availability of guns in the United States. A small group of determined and well-financed ideologues dictates national policy on gun ownership. The National Rifle Association using its bulging treasury controls the votes of Republican members of Congress when it comes to setting limits and conditions on citizens purchasing a firearm.

At present, there is no national law to prevent people, young or old, from buying guns of any kind, including AR15-type machine guns. The results of this unbelievable situation are clear from the killings, in shopping centers and even in schools, by crazed teenagers or sometimes by older reprobates who have purchased these deadly weapons without even going through a police check.

Most other Western countries insist that giving any citizen a firearm permit must be preceded by an examination of the applicant’s record and maturity as well as the completion of a firearms safety course. Not surprisingly, the number of fatalities from guns is proportionately much smaller in these countries than in the United States.

2023 is the hottest year in recorded history meaning we are moving towards major weather disasters in the coming decade. While President Biden’s budget sets out and funds a sensible multi-pronged program to deal with climate change, the Republican Party is deaf to the urgent need to act on this crisis. 

Their leader and likely presidential candidate in the coming presidential contest, Donald Trump, pronounces regularly that he favors, “drill baby drill.” Unfortunately dealing with the weather crisis is not even on the agenda of the Republican Party. 

While praising President Biden for his progressive fiscal and social policies, his handling of the ongoing Gaza crisis gets a zero on a 1-10 scale from many thoughtful middle-of-the-road voters, and his weak response to the carnage there may cost him dearly in the November election.

Condemning the barbarity of Hamas’ actions on October 7th is entirely justified, but what purpose does it serve for America to associate with the murderous policies of Netanyahu and his far-right government? Mr. Biden’s ineffectual pleas to desist from killing civilians while vetoing calls in the United Nations for an immediate ceasefire show weakness and a lack of moral clarity.

UNICEF says that between bombing and starvation Gaza has become a graveyard for children. A large swath of Americans is disgusted with the imbalance here and with the failure of their government to insist that Israel deal immediately with the knotty political situation in Gaza and the West Bank.  Washington should not be associated with the asinine idea that bombs and superior armaments can lead to victory in a situation that cries out for a political deal that acknowledges the equality and dignity of the people on both sides.

When before did the leading candidate of one of the two main political parties in the United States promise to lock up his opponents, dismissing them as vermin, and also assuring his followers at a rally that after his election he plans to instruct the Department of Justice to punish his political enemies while speaking appreciatively of Vladimir Putin, the world’s leading thug?

These, surely, are abnormal times in American politics recalling William Butler Yeats’ celebrated poem, The Second Coming. His words resonate with our times and echo Aristotle’s sentiments about the importance of moderation.

Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, 

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity. 

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?