In a World With No Boundaries, How Can You Find The Center?
or, How Do You Know Where The Center Is If You can’t Tell Where The Edges Are?
By: Dan Hallo
“Popular and regular governments have always applied themselves to increase the number, strength, power, riches, and courage, of their people, by providing comfortable ways of subsistence for their own citizens, inviting strangers, and filling them all with such a love to their country, that every man might look upon the public cause as his own, and be always ready to defend it.” Algernon Sidney; DISCOURSES CONCERNING GOVERNMENT II:26:209.
If left alone and unhampered by false fears the vast majority of mankind always have been “Liberal” in nature. Liberal in that basic sense of the word, In that they progressively seek knowledge and cherish it, sharing it freely to benefit all and to promote the progress for all.
Most people just want to be happy and live their lives, free to enjoy families and friends and hope that their efforts will leave a better world for their children and their children’s children… This is the definition of Progressivism. Some fear this and want to control others to give them the illusion of safety. Illusions fade quickly and they are never satisfied, always finding new fears.
ORANGE ALERT, ORANGE ALERT.
The Politics of Fear forces an unnatural shift to conservative thinking in any group. That is their strength. That shift never holds because when the fear subsides, reason returns. That is their weakness.
Fear gives power to a minority who wish to preserve a status quo of inequality, a status quo of divide and conquer that is counter to the happiness of the majority. The perpetuation of ignorance is to their benefit, ignorance is the root of all fear…Those who push against this are labeled the “Left.”
“The leader of genius must have the ability to make different opponents appear as if they belonged to one category. – Adolf Hitler”
Conservatives put anyone on the “Left” who disagrees with them. This is the oldest rhetorical trick in the book, demonize everyone who is not with you.
Without critical thinking skills you see only the edges and think that’s as deep as we need to see. But that is just the fringe. The edges will always ebb and flow, with the wind making the center undefinable to the majority.
“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” Edmund Burke
There is no center anymore? Really? The fact is that if you don’t have a side, if you don’t know the facts, you have not formed an opinion one way or the other: that is solid proof you aren’t paying enough attention and should stay out of it.
Saying both sides are the same is a sign of lethargy, lazy-mindedness or worse, the stupidity that we all are susceptible to from time to time.
You agree or you don’t agree and you keep an open mind until the facts prove you are right or wrong. Then if you have the integrity, you acquiesce and change your opinion.
In a free society of free and open debate this is a duty of every citizen to take advantage of or stay out of politics. You must pay attention and use critical thinking! Or your freedom of mind will be taken away.
The “Center” exists only with a positive consensus, a forward movement forward for peace and prosperity for all. The true Center is never and can never be retrograde. If it is, or if they promote stagnation to be safe out of fear of change, it is a sure sign that the center is wrong and will not hold.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Dan HAllO © 20
