[RC] "Checkout line" for Radical Centrism

[Dr.Ernie Prabhakar]

I came up with a statement I like better, based on the discussion I had  
with Nate about extremism:

Short form

Radical Centrism –becoming sustainably centered by being properly rooted

Long form

Radical Centrism — individuals, communities, and systems
becoming sustainably centered  — happy, healthy & holy —
by being properly rooted — in humility, justice & love.

Thoughts?

-- Ernie P.

On Oct 4, 2004, at 6:01 PM, Dr.Ernie Prabhakar wrote:

> Hi guys,
>
> On Oct 3, 2004, at 10:19 PM, Avesland at aol.com wrote:
>>  
>> If I want to do physics, clearly it would be necessary for me to study
>> math and the ways of expression made use of by mathematicians.
>> I could write out math formulas in prose form and they would be
>> "correct" but no physicist would take me seriously.
>>  
>> You set out to write a "one liner" about Radical Centrism and
>>  once again presented us with something that is a hybrid between
>> poetry and a physics formula. Hint : that is not a one liner.
>
> I suppose I can no more avoid doing formulaic poetry, than you can  
> avoid turning email into a history lesson. :-)
>
> I have always aspired to be a wit; I'm told I am half there.  
> Regardless, I wasn't using the literary meaning for "one-liner", but  
> rather that the marketing meaning: that is, the shortest possible  
> meaningful description.   While being witty and pithy is always nice,  
> in this case I'm more concerned with getting my essential point  
> across.
>
> So, I concede your point about brevity, but at the same time I want to  
> preserve the "key features".  In this case, those are:
> - love, justice, humility
> - happy, healthy, holy
> - the ideas of 'rooted' and 'centered'
>
> Sure, sometimes one omits certain features to keep the idea 'tight',  
> but if one omits too much then it defeats the purpose.  In this case,  
> my immediate purpose is to come up with a better '.sig' that explains  
> my background, particularly when emailing people who don't know who I  
> am.
>
> On Oct 3, 2004, at 10:57 PM, Nate Cull wrote:
>> Hmm. I've never been entirely satisfied with the word 'extremism', it
>> tends to suggest to me that holding any kind of value deeply is
>> dangerous in itself - which I don't think is entirely true. I think  
>> the
>> danger is more in what we value, and how tactics pervert goals. Though
>> perhaps lack of humility is what extremism (and belief?) is about, and
>> what makes it so dangerous.
>
> To me, extremism (as a perjorative) is the same as lacking balance.    
> Marxism wouldn't have turned out so bad if it had remembered that  
> compassion for actual human beings was also important!  Part of my  
> personal quest is precisely to find that minimal set of values that  
> must be remembered in order to avoid such unhealthiness.
>
>> I think I am coming to the view that 'left' and 'right', or any other
>> pair of apparent polar opposites, are not so much opposed as  
>> orthogonal:
>> at 90 degrees to each other; one may, but does not necessarily,  
>> preclude
>> its rival.
>
> Close; I actually think they are off by 120 degrees. :-)
>
>> Hmm. I like the 'radical virtues of love, justice and humility' bit.
>> (That's your chi, rho, nu, I guess).
>
> Correct -- good call!
>
>> How's this: Radical Centrism is about taking an attitude of respectful
>> critique toward all factions and ideologies. An attempt to engage both
>> sides of a dispute in constructive discussion, acknowledging truth  
>> where
>> we find it, and rejecting fallacies no matter where they arise.  
>> Neither
>> minimising the complexity of the world's multifaceted struggles, nor
>> losing hope in the existence of a real and humane Truth that exists
>> regardless of anyone's limited perspectives on it.
>>
>> (A bit wordy, still. Needs work).
>
> Yeah, I'm trying to find the radical middle between Billy's "zinger"  
> and your "essay question". :-)
>
> Here's another attempt:
>
> Radical Centrism pursues becoming centered (happy, healthy & holy) by  
> being rooted (in humility, justice & love).
>
> 17 words, but I cheat by using paranthesis to reduce the word count  
> and conceptual burden, giving a minimal tagline of:
>
> 	Radical centrism is about becoming centered by being rooted.
>
> 9 words.  Would that work for you, Billy?
>
> To Nate's point, a proper marketing treatment would also have a  
> "50-word" and "100-word" description.  I could probably use something  
> like what he said above to improve the Centroids abstract, which is  
> pretty minimal right now:
>
> Discuss the theory and practice of Radical Centrism - how to apply the  
> principles of Reality, Character, Community & Humility to problems in  
> politics, economics, theology and philosophy.
>
> One possibility, which tries to incorporate Nate's comments:
>
> Radical Centrism is the pursuit of becoming centered (happy, healthy &  
> holy) by being rooted (in humility, justice & love).  Our goal is to  
> discern truth as we acknowledge the complexity of issues and people,  
> in order to make the difficult choices needed to simultaneously  
> advance community and respect character.
>
> 50 words. Further feedback welcome.
>
> -- Ernie P.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ernest N. Prabhakar, Ph.D. <DrErnie at RadicalCentrism.org>
> Radical Centrism pursues becoming centered  -- happy, healthy & holy  
> -- by being rooted in humility, justice & love, as we work for  
> personal, cultural, and structural transformation.
> <http://www.RadicalCentrism.org/manifesto.html>
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