Centrists need to pick a lane

By Ben Choucroun

Centrism is everywhere. An article headline from The Christian Science Monitor, a news publication, reads, “Why Free Speech is Under Attack from Right and Left.” A particularly vile Washington Post opinion has the title “Yes, Antifa is the Moral Equivalent of Neo-Nazis” calls for “reaching across the aisle,” “healing our divisions” and positioning oneself between two extremes are virtually ubiquitous in politicians’ speeches. Centrism is the belief in moderate political actions, compromising and taking a middle ground between the left and right. However, centrism enables far-right politics, supports oppression enforced by the status quo and is woefully inept in addressing the urgent issues of climate change, poverty and oppression.

Centrist democracies are easily susceptible to the rise of fascism, which is a right-wing ideology based nationalism, military supremacy, the protection of business interests and racism. Centrists believe the free marketplace of ideas and liberal norms of political civility will be sufficient to prevent the rise of fascism in America. However, fascists don’t follow liberal norms of political civility, and their rhetoric is often boosted by wealthy capitalists, giving them advantages in our money-dominated political sphere. For example, in Germany during the the Nazis, supported by German conglomerates like Krupp Industries and I.G. Farben, redirected legitimate anger at

Germany’s poor economic condition to the country’s Jewish minority, aiding the Nazis in taking power, functioning as a pressurerelief valve for capitalism.

Currently, active fascist groups are trying to manipulate centrist democracies in similar ways to the Nazis. Groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front are intent on executing the genocidal plans drawn up by former fascist dictators, as evidenced by the Proud Boys’ slogan “6 million wasn’t enough”— a reference to the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Additionally, fascist beliefs (such as the Great Replacement Theory, which postulates that Jewish elites are replacing to females due to their high levels of oxytocin, otherwise known as a “maternal instinct,” testosterone is not a legitimate excuse for failing to exhibit vulnerability or sensitivity. A 2014 study measured the brain’s emotional arousal in males and females in response to emotionally stimulating videos. Although the results found that males had equally as strong, if not stronger, emotional reactions than females, when asked about how they felt while watching the videos, males denied feeling the emotions the physiological evidence indicated. Toxic masculinity not only discourages men from expressing their feelings openly and healthily, it also limits them from practicing kindness and vulnerability.

I have been lucky to get to know men who have done a lot of work with unlearning toxic masculinity in favor of discovering themselves as individuals equally capable as women of showing empathy, gentleness and respect. I’m working on not not praising them for the bare minimum and resisting the urge to gush, “He’s such a gem” or “He’s one of the good ones” because these seemingly complimentary and harmless statements produce unhealthy power dynamics that many women, myself included, have fallen into.

These power dynamics appear in my life in my interactions with men, which have always felt quite lopsided. Likely because society simply expects me, as a woman, to be a selfless and thoughtful person by default, I’ve always felt the need antifascist action, like disrupting fascist rallies and cutting the funding for fascist groups, is sufficient to prevent the rise of fascism in the United States.

Centrism is also an inadequate tool to deal with oppression because taking a centrist position between the oppressed and oppressor by default supports the oppressor. Across the United States, Black people are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police officers than white people, women are essentially banned from having abortions in 13 states and laws restricting the ability of transgender people to use their preferred bathroom are on the rise. To remedy those clear instances to cater to their wants, needs and emotions, even if that’s at my own expense. The compliments and physical affection from the males in my life mean more, but their criticism stings more too. I am often surprised when men show me gentleness or affection. As a result, I raise the sensitive, kind men in my life onto metaphorical pedestals, feeling the uncontrollable urge to remind myself that I’m lucky to have found them. To myself and anyone else who identifies with these feelings: we need to raise the bar. cbeard@redwoodbark.org take immediate action to remedy pressing problems like poverty. Over a million households currently live on under $2 per day. Nine million children in the U.S. go to bed hungry on a regular basis because their families cannot afford food. Only radically redistributing wealth and political power will be enough to mitigate this dire issue, a change that is not probable under centrism.

Similarly, we need to carry out drastic action if we are to effectively mitigate climate change. In our current trajectory, the world will warm by about 2.7 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the near future. This warming will cause droughts, famines and refugee crises of unthinkable proportions – all of which will fuel ecofascist groups that capitalize off of environmental catastrophes. Torturously slow, moderate reforms are not viable. There are several ways to achieve the change we so desperately need without falling into the trap of mundane centrism.

First, it is essential that we educate ourselves about important issues and the changes we want to see in the world. We must also transform our education into actively making a difference in the world through direct action. Protesting outside homes of politicians, organizing workplaces into unions, conducting rent strikes and educating our peers are practical examples of direct action that affect political change, without being too moderate or polite.