Hearing the Falconer #46 ~ 31-May-2019 ~ The Importance of Moderation

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world....
from The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats, 1919

The middle of the road is all of the usable surface.
The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

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31-May-2019:
In Defense of Moderation
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Today I am sharing a nice little article about moderation from a man who also wrote a big book about moderation.

I believe moderation is the essential virtue that makes society possible. Unless we are planning to live all alone on a desert island we will need to develop some level of moderation to live in a society and to make that society successful.

One of the things we mean by moderation is just the ability to discuss an issue, and learn from people who disagree with you.

Moderation is the ability to compromise – to get SOME of what you want while giving your opponents some of what they want as well, to get SOMETHING done rather than NOTHING and shutting down the government or leaving it paralyzed.

The Constitutional Convention of 1787 was filled with examples of moderation and compromise. Without this kind of moderation the United States would not even exist.

It is moderation that makes society of possible, and it is moderation that keeps society safe. As our great Founding Father John Adams said “without the great political virtues of humility, patience, and moderation every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.”

We should always fight for what we believe in but let's also remember the importance of moderation, avoid extremes, and look for opportunities to compromise.

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The "Hearing the Falconer" Library

Books for Independent Thinkers

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Truman

Moderates: The Vital Center of American Politics, from the Founding to Today

The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It

Unapologetically Moderate: My Search for the Rational Center in American Politics

The Deliberate Moderate: Influencing From the Middle

Eisenhower: The White House Years

The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison

Lincoln

Reflections of a Radical Moderate

Washington: A Life

The Reluctant Republican: My Fight for the Moderate Majority

Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party

Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life

Theodore Roosevelt: A Life

The Three Languages of Politics: Talking Across the Political Divides

Beyond Red and Blue: How Twelve Political Philosophies Shape American Debates

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Copyright © 2019 by Joseph Wayne Gadway