Extremist and extremism are often misused and confusing terms to the casual political observer. Often the MSM is more likely to use the term when describing people on the right. Is actually comes down to the position of the person using the term. Someone on the far right might easily think of himself as moderate and someone who is a so-called moderate might be branded an extremist by many on the far left. In reality extremism and moderate have little meaning if one does not know the true position on the person using the words. This is a necessity in order to evaluate the position of someone. When I hear these words moderate or extremist I always ask who is saying that and what is their position. By using these words one is more likely branding himself than others, with what ever label he uses.
Today's extremist could be tomorrows moderate or today's moderate could become tomorrows extremist. Its not how others look at you and your positions, but rather how you look at yourself and your views that really counts. Things are always changing and the old and new orders will always be in conflict and will continue to replace each other as part of this protracted conflict. So in reality the words have little meaning other than to accentuate one's own position.
Today's extremist could be tomorrows moderate or today's moderate could become tomorrows extremist. Its not how others look at you and your positions, but rather how you look at yourself and your views that really counts. Things are always changing and the old and new orders will always be in conflict and will continue to replace each other as part of this protracted conflict. So in reality the words have little meaning other than to accentuate one's own position.
5 comments:
Yes, extreme compared to--what? Which reminds me of an extreme slogan: All extremists ought to be jailed!
The terms extremism or extremist are only used for the shock effect and to persuade another person to believe the first person's side of the story.
A moderate reminds me of of a highway -- the most damned dangerous part is at the white line, right in the middle.
BZ
Very correct. It's really impossible to define such vague terms. What is considered mainstream today was radical 50 years ago. What I consider moderate, many on the left would call extremely right.
Everyone here is right. I'm often reminded of Barry Goldwater's words, "extremism in defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue" or something to that effect. BZ, I agree, the middle of the road is no place to be, kind of like no-man's land in a war zone!
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