Extremism...at the center of it all

This morning, while enjoying the view over the first cup of coffee, I experienced an epiphany of sorts.  (What is obvious to one is an epiphany to another.)  Much, if not the majority, of that which is concerning has at its center the good being taken to the extreme.  Sipping coffee, watching a band of light rain move from west to east, the clarity of this realization was crystalline.  Musing over it more and more, other descriptors came to mind: the reasonable mutating into the unreasonable; rational sliding into the irrational; and so on.  Then examples began coming to mind.

The first example coming to mind was organized labor.  At its core, collective bargaining appears very reasonable to me.  Having been a union member at times in my professional life, I saw its value.  But as time went on, I began realizing the value had been replaced by the unreasonable: mandatory union membership and dues providing organized labor a guaranteed pool of money that lawmakers allow to be used for political purposes.  (For example, the National Education Association adopted an anti-war plank at one of its national conventions.  What, pray tell, does that have to do with collective bargaining for teachers?)  In a form of taxation without representation, union leaders in countless sectors create political clout by the enforced donations to those disposed to labor's cause and funding anti-candidate messages for those not so inclined.  This  political power goes well beyond the initial objective of collective bargaining.  In some states, such as California, it has resulted in guaranteed state constitutional protections for certain labor groups, such as teachers.  Another current example involves correctional officers in Maryland, as described in a recent Washington Post online story by Charles Lane.  “Keeping watch over often-violent offenders is a tough job that most correctional officers do honestly. They deserve a decent wage and fair treatment on the job.  But neither they nor any other workers who serve the public deserve special influence over state government.  That is what they get when their unions accumulate cash through mandatory dues checkoffs — from tax-funded payrolls — and spend it on campaign contributions and lobbying.  One of the most powerful public-sector unions in the country is the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which used its political might to secure not only expensive pensions and benefits but also passage of a “three strikes and you’re out” law — which created jobs for unionized correctional officers by swelling California’s prison population.  Maryland’s correctional officers union is not nearly that powerful, but its officials are working on it.  “From the beginning, AFSCME Maryland set an aggressive agenda,” the union’s Web site boasts. “Recognizing that state laws and political decisions controlled our work lives, AFSCME Maryland members embarked on a mission to develop political power through legislative action.””  “A Baltimore jail scandal aided by union politics,” Charles Lane, Washington Post online.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-a-baltimore-jail-scandal-aided-by-union-politics/2013/05/06/d90bc90e-b67b-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html?hpid=z2
    
Please note the underlined sentences, as they describe consequence of this form of extremism:  "...special influence over state government..." and "...mandatory dues...[spent] on campaign contributions and lobbying."  Unreasonable actions by organized labor is just one example of extremism.

Another is the perverted interpretation of religion by progressive liberals.  The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  It is clearly black letter law that I can freely practice my religion, Christianity.  However, of recent, the progressive liberals (legislators, judges, media, pundits, school administrators, universities) have taken the Amendment to an extreme.  Pushing, nay demanding, respect for non-Christian religions, they move to restrict the "free practice" of Christianity.  Crosses can't be displayed, prayer groups can't be organized, Bibles can't be opened, Merry Christmas can't be uttered.  The good of the First Amendment has been taken to an unreasonable extreme.

Of course, when speaking of extremism and Christianity, one must mention the Islamic extremists.  Islam, as do all major religions, is peaceful in its premise.  Unfortunately, in its name, three are those who wantonly kill, having taken the good messages and perverted them in the extreme to warrant unbelievable violence.  The vast majority of the millions of Muslims are peace loving and seeking.  Many, far too many, however seek destruction in the name of Islam.  The good and positive of Islam has been taken captive by some advocating an extreme interpretation of Allah's words. 

The next example is the current state of the civil rights movement.  As a teenager in the 1960s, one of the most positively influential individuals was Martin Luther King, Jr.  On August 28, 1963 he gave what most believe to be his most important speech.  Following are a couple excerpts:  

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.  We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”   

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Yet, nearly 50 years later, when employed as a white male on a major university campus, I was the recipient of extremism cloaked in the phrase of civil rights.  I was told that, as a white man, I shouldn't hold a certain job on campus.  We also read, hear, and see so-called ministers and civil rights leaders castigate all whites in an all too sad example of blatant racism.  Essentially the same form of racism Dr. King marched to protest.  Even in the administration of the President of the United States, people continue to look for extreme reasons to cry the false racist foul.  These individuals bemoan their perceived lack of "diversity" in the President's Cabinet.  These individuals aren't judging the character of the members of the Cabinet, but are judging the color (or gender) of its members.  I firmly believe Dr. King would be appalled at the extremism resident in many parts of the country, from the highest elected levels to the lowest rungs on the economic ladder.  The positive messages of fifty years ago have been hijacked by extremists into the unreasonable and the irrational.

Finally, discussing extremism can't be complete without pointing to our federal government.  Hardly an element doesn't suffer from extremism.  Legislators spending in the extreme.  Partisan politics in the extreme.  Politics itself has migrated from positive debates from which compromises are created for the good of the people, to extreme excoriations from both sides of the aisle.  The reasonable levying of taxes to pay the reasonable debts of the nation has been taken to an extreme by legislators doling out pork laden bills to curry voter favor in pursuit of re-election and personal power.  The positive inclination by some to go to Washington to be part of a government helping its people has denigrated to an extreme example of personal avarice and power seeking.

Indeed, it is an all too sad day.  Extremism, on far too many fronts, is the cause for what concerns us.