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The topic du jour: "centrists."
-- E.J. Dionne says moderation oui, centrism non!
-- Driftglass says "under what rock have you been?"
-- our hero Paul Krugman says they're a cult that's destroying America.
(Cartoon: Simpson)
Except the only time these kinds of situations come up is when moral absolutists do hypothetical and extreme examples like this one. Centrism isn't just some "well, I'll take the middle of the road stance on every set of opposing beliefs", it's a matter of policy. A centrist doesn't say "let's throw half the kittens in the blender", a centrist says "I don't want laws that force people to throw kittens in blenders, but I also don't want laws that ban people who own kittens from owning blenders or vice versa."
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