#ActInTimeDEADLINETime left to limit global warming to 1.5°C 4YRS111DAYS18:03:35 LIFELINELand protected by indigenous people43,500,000km²Ambitious climate action could boost global 2040 GDP by 0.2% | Tanzania’s marine reserves offer long-term benefits to communities | Paris residents vote in favor of making 500 more streets pedestrian | Use of pesticides on UK farms to be cut by 10% by 2030 to protect bees | New forest to be created in England, with 20m trees planted by 2050 | Affordable e-bikes are transforming delivery work for Latin American migrants | California & Sonora sign agreement to boost clean energy & climate collaboration | UK to invest $260 million on solar panels for schools and hospitals | Green power to give 570 million energy access in Africa | UN hails rare success story as emissions from construction stop rising | Ambitious climate action could boost global 2040 GDP by 0.2% | Tanzania’s marine reserves offer long-term benefits to communities | Paris residents vote in favor of making 500 more streets pedestrian | Use of pesticides on UK farms to be cut by 10% by 2030 to protect bees | New forest to be created in England, with 20m trees planted by 2050 | Affordable e-bikes are transforming delivery work for Latin American migrants | California & Sonora sign agreement to boost clean energy & climate collaboration | UK to invest $260 million on solar panels for schools and hospitals | Green power to give 570 million energy access in Africa | UN hails rare success story as emissions from construction stop rising |

Aug 11, 2011

Both Sides

The centrist meme starts with a perfectly reasonable assumption that there're at least two sides of the story; that we need to be sure we're addressing questions from as wide a perspective as possible. All well and good, but it starts to fall apart when you take that next step and assume that ALL issues MUST have at least two sides (they don't), and that both points of view are ALWAYS valid (they aren't).

While Centrism has its uses, as a political philosophy, it's just intellectually lazy. It's a product of our need not to feel embarrassed because we supported the wrong candidates and causes; or because we aren't willing to do the work required of every good citizen in a democracy; or that we were just following a fashionable trend; or whatever.

To take just a piece of the argument, here's Bill Maher exposing the lie of "both sides do it".



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