The universe is expanding. And not sporadically but continuously. And it is not expanding in any particular direction either, but in all directions at once. And it is doing this uniformly.
Meanwhile, down on planet Earth, we seem to be expanding — politically at least — in only two directions: to the left or to the right. Not continuously (sounds tiring) and certainly not uniformly.
If anything, rather madly, as if responding to the holler of some fish-headed square dance caller. But allemande left or allemande right seem to be the only steps we take, with each of those steps taking us farther from the middle.
Those veering to the Right (also known as capitalists) travel down straight and manicured paths to a land of milk and honey. They champion concepts like Prudence and Profit. They see the poor as lazy.
They believe that astute management of one’s finances is paramount and foundational to one’s overall health and happiness. They have sailed the wide seas of high finance, charted those dangerous waters and returned with envious spoils. They will take the lessons learned helming private, profit-driven companies and apply them to public, non-profit affairs once in government.
They will need less government to do this. They want tax breaks for big business. They get to sleep at night by imagining profit trickling down to the less fortunate.
Those veering to the Left (also known as socialists) travel up winding and rugged paths to the Big Rock Candy Mountain (where the handouts grow on bushes). They champion concepts like Equity and Equality. They see the poor as unfortunate.
They believe that astute management of government is paramount and foundational to one’s overall health and happiness. They have walked the wide halls of academia, passed the exams and returned with envious degrees.
They will take the lessons learned learning what lessons have been learned and apply them to public affairs once in government. They may need more government to do this. They may have to increase taxes. They get to sleep at night by imagining there are no possessions (They wonder if you can), no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man.
Those donning the jackboots of the Far-Right goosestep in unison towards Mount Doom. They champion concepts like Reverse Racism and Paranoia. They see the poor as immigrants. They believe that skullduggery is afoot almost everywhere, and the government is aiding and abetting it all.
They have scoured the internet and found out some things they think you should know. They will take the truths learned from anecdotal, online evidence and apply them to public affairs once in government. They fly flags from pick-up trucks. They use profanity. They get to sleep at night with a loaded pistol under their pillow.
The Far-Left march arm-in-arm, chanting revolutionary slogans and wearing Che Guevara berets. They holistically participate in seminars at the Esalen Institute. They are the champions of the poor.
They splash alongside giant whaling ships in Greenpeace zodiacs and will take the radical lessons learned through the sea spray and apply them to public affairs once in government. They sleep perchance to dream, but with one eye open, which makes them appear “woke.”
There is another choice and that’s to be in the middle. Once in the middle, though, one can’t retreat into a farther or harder middle because even if you burrow down to the very heart of the middle you’re still only in the middle — stuck in it, wondering what it is you can do.
Compromise, that’s what you can do. When the Right wants to tack “hard starboard” and the Left wants to tack “hard port” the middle should do both, in turn, zigging then zagging with the changing wind in order to ultimately go straight.
As you might imagine, this pleases precisely nobody. It also leaves the middle open to charges of contradicting themselves. Do they contradict themselves? Very well then they contradict themselves. They are large. They contain multitudes. Or at least the ideas of both the Left and the Right.
Stationary, static, and a bit boring. This is the middle. But as stationary as the middle can appear, it does move, continuously even. It can also move significantly if the winds of the Right or Left blow too hard, and sweep it up entirely, like a house in a Hollywood tornado that is set back down in some luridly technicolored place where strange plants rise in windless studio sets and whose denizens seem nice enough, but are worrisomely heartless, brainless, or cowardly (or a bit short).
It would be a wide-eyed mistake indeed to set our dog down here, thinking it rainbow’s end.
Representing only one side of an argument is a bit like watching a one-armed person rowing a one-oared boat with a strong side wind coming hard off the oar side.
The solution is not, as most know, to row even harder. But as our Rights and Lefts get farther apart in these diametric times, it’s best to remember that the middle is always the end game. Aim for it enough, and every once in a while, you stick a dart dead-red in the middle: bullseye!
D’Arcy Closs lives in Greater Sudbury. A rotating stable of community members share their thoughts on anything and everything, the only criteria being that it be thought-provoking. Got something on your mind to share with readers in Greater Sudbury? Climb aboard our Soapbox and have your say. Send material or pitches to [email protected].