Pragmatism beats ideology

Nicolas Goebel at The Pragmatic Center (now deleted because Nick got a job in political writing) is one of the few voices that regularly and forcefully argues for pragmatism while attacking ideology in politics. In a recent essay, he quoted David Brooks as saying: “Covering this upcoming election is like covering a competition between two Soviet refrigerator companies, cold-war relics offering products that never change.” That sums it up nicely. Goebel argues that ideology is why the two parties are constrained to look, think and sound like cold war relics. Actually, they look more like confused brontosauri staring at fire falling out of the sky shortly after the asteroid hit Earth 65 million years ago. Unfortunately for us, these brontosauri (democrats and republicans) are our elected leaders.

 Star incubator in Cygnus X constellation, 4,500 light years (a close neighbor)

Blue = 3.6 micron light; blue-green = 4.5-micron;

green = 8.0-micron; red = 24-micron

Goebel asserts that "pragmatism is what America needs." He points out that a few others see the merits of pragmatism: “It’s a uniquely American system of thought. Pragmatism maintains that people are constantly devising and updating ideas to navigate the world in which they live; it embraces open-minded experimentation and continuing debate.” (quoting Patricia Cohen at The New York Times) And this: “It [pragmatism] is a philosophy for skeptics, not true believers.” Because “the people filled with doubt are wiser than the people who are certain about everything.” (quoting Harvard Historian James T. Kloppenberg).

Orion nebula with new stars

1,500 light years, a very close neighbor

Hm, people filled with doubt vs. people who know they know it all . . . . that sounds vaguely familiar.

Finally Goebel argues this: “Because our democracy is dominated by partisan ideologues, pragmatism will only occur if a moderate movement is ignited. In a time of political dysfunction in which hyper-partisanship is destroying our democracy, moderation and innovative ideas would be a refreshing answer to most Americans.” Nick has that dead right. California Moderates has argued those points in other terms and contexts, but has never argued it better.