so you've never taken a stance that fell to one side or the other? If so, was it by chance and then you changed your position so you werent considered extreme?
of course i am glad tirk brought this up. good article. it even uses the abortion example we questioned red about. these extremes you mention, who defines them? if the answer is "i define them" then everyone is moderate, and the term is meaningless. clearly what is extreme is a function of the current whims of whomever we are defining the extremes against. do you see that a moderate is describing himself in relation to others, not a principle? if you move to cuba and the people there were communist, would you consider yourself an extremist? yes? do you see how extremism is merely an arbitrary relative judgement? not a negative or positive to be avoided or embraced? for many extremist views, there was a time when they were not extreme, it changes. principles do not change.
of course, the question is why an ordinary person would be a moderate, they arent running for anything. they can afford to actually have principles. i dont have to say "well, i am a pro-choice, so i better at least favor the NRA or some other conservative things". i might have to say that if i were looking to be elected. but i have the luxury of not having to be a slick politician, pleasing the maximum of people i have to deal with. i get to approach issues based on my principles, which are based on reason. even if my reasoning is wrong, at least i am making an effort to be rational instead of just reflecting back the midpoint of everyone else. a moderate is trying to please, not trying to be right.
hmm, lemme think a second. A=B, B=C, therefore A=C ! it is a transitive diss! this guy is calling me a simpleton!
That's ok, you all stole it verbatim from what Rush Limbaugh has been saying for years, so it's all fair. This whole argument is just a disagreement over the use of the word "moderate" anyway.
I agree with Tirk here and I don't believe that there is anyone on this board that is a true moderate. From all the stances on every issue that I've debated with others here I haven't found any moderates. I believe a true moderate wouldn't vote for Kerry or Bush in the last election. Please keep in mind that I have absolutely no problems announcing that I am a conservative Republican. I don't try and hide who I am or what I stand for! One thing I will address is that I don't know what you would call someone who is for abortion, against the death penalty and for gun control. I guess you could call them confused? I still don't think that is moderate because coming from me someone who supports the killing of the unborn or pro gun control is an extremist. You could pick and choose between right and left issues I just chose an example. USMTiger, that is a bad definition because extreme means different things to different people!
That depends on what the definition of extreme is. Extreme to 2 different people could mean 2 different things! Saying that man causes global warming is an extreme stance because its never been proven as fact. Just because a group of people do or say something doesn't mean they are correct or have done the right thing. You could say the samething about anything including abortion.
exactly. that is why claiming there is inherent value in a moderate viewpoint is silly, because anyone can make that claim, and it is totally independent of any principled reference point. you do not understand. the words extreme and moderate are meaningless without being stated in terms of something else. this is why tirk makes a perceptive and valid point that you if want to take a moderate view, you have to wait until somebody defines the extremes (which are dynamic, not static like principles) . and that means you are not even really deciding your own opinion.
