My 6 a.m. routine includes time on the couch, dog curled up on my right, coffee on my left and laptop in the middle. First stop, email. Next, the Daily Journal to scan top stories, columns, letters to the editor and comments. After that the Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Washington Post, Yahoo News, Politico, The Hill and CNN. Lately, I spend time on a fairly new social media platform called Spoutible. Entrepreneur Christopher Bouzy, founder of Bot Sentinel, a Twitter analytics service, created Spoutible where I discover stories and happenings that I might not otherwise find in my usual surfing. On the morning I started writing this column, several posts made me think of the word “extremist.”
Many on the left lambast “MAGA extremists” and many on the right decry “WOKE extremists.” Let’s look at some of today’s left and right positions on some issues and ask are these extreme or mainstream.
Labor: The national minimum wage should be raised to $15 an hour. Current child labor laws should be strictly enforced. Extreme or mainstream? There should be no national minimum wage. Child labor laws are too strict. Parents should decide at which age children can work, which and how many hours, and what jobs they can do without government or schools interfering. Extreme or mainstream?
Reproductive decisions: The decision on whether to continue or end a pregnancy belongs to the individual, not the government. Abortion, IVF and contraception should be legal. Extreme or mainstream? Life begins at conception. Abortion, IVF, IUDs and the morning-after pill should be illegal. Extreme or mainstream?
Health care: We should have “Medicare for All” with sliding scale copayments based on income and wealth. Extreme or mainstream? Eliminate the ACA, VA, Medicare and Medicaid and replace them with marketplace insurance or private direct pay with charity-based services for the poor. Extreme or mainstream?
School: Universal access to free public pre-k through community college with national, state and local educational regulations and standards. Parents can opt to pay for private/parochial options. Extreme or mainstream? Eliminate the federal Department of Education and national standards. Give parents vouchers for any public or private pre-K-12 school they choose. Extreme or mainstream?
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Identity: Systemic and individual racism and discrimination based on other factors of identity have negatively impacted individuals and groups of people throughout our history. The damages done because of that discrimination continue to harm people and should be repaired through targeted action, uplifting some, in order for our nation to some day fulfill its unrealized promise of equality for all. Extreme or mainstream? America is a level playing field. Systemic racism doesn’t exist. Policies that favor anyone based on race or other identity factors are discriminatory and should be illegal. Extreme or mainstream?
Religion: The separation of church and state has been a bedrock principle since our founding. Our government should remain neutral toward all religions, not officially recognizing or favoring any one religion. There should be no religious test to serve in government. Public schools should not promote any religion. Extreme or mainstream? The phrase “separation of church and state” is not in the Constitution. America was founded as a Christian nation and the nation’s laws should be based on Christian values. Public schools should teach from the Bible and display the 10 Commandments in every classroom. Extreme or mainstream?
Political campaigns: Regulate how much money can be contributed to campaigns by individuals, corporations and organizations, and require complete transparency of who is giving what to who. Limit how much campaigns can spend. Extreme or mainstream? Money equals speech and can’t be restricted. No limits on contributions, with anonymous giving and unlimited spending allowed. Extreme or mainstream.
Guns: Sales/transfers should be regulated with universal background checks. People should have to be trained, obtain and maintain a permit, and securely store weapons, with regulations on which weapons are allowed for who, and where they can be carried openly or concealed. Extreme or mainstream? Individuals have the right to obtain, possess, transfer, openly carry or conceal any weapon allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court based on the court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment. Extreme or mainstream?
Climate change: It is real, caused, and exacerbated in large part by continued use of fossil fuels, and we have to do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint to save the planet and its inhabitants from the worsening disastrous impacts of inaction. Extreme or mainstream? It is a hoax and we shouldn’t waste any time or money trying to mitigate a hoax. Weather changes. Deal with it. Extreme or mainstream.
Craig Wiesner’s column in the Daily Journal: Extreme or mainstream? 7 a.m., time for me to get off the couch but the dog is fast asleep and she’d consider me moving very extreme.
Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos.
What I don't look forward to is before I can even finish one of Craigs great weekly columns - I pause and disgustedly remind myself that the usual suspects are waiting in the wings - Just and Only to trash 90% of his thoughts.
Again that is why the SM DJ hard copy rocks, because I don't have to read those who are full of hatred regardless of what Craig authors.
JustMike650, is there a new law that says you need to read online comments? It is amusing you feel others are “full of hatred” because they have different opinions or different life experiences than what Craig authors. And if 90% of Craig’s thoughts are trashed, perhaps there’s a reason… like Craig isn’t writing “great” weekly columns. (No offense, Craig. I enjoy all your columns on whatever subjects you write about.)
Thanks for your column, Mr. Wiesner. First, your list of media source choices are likely the ones who use the word “extremist” the most, so I’d recommend you ignore their hyperbole. Second, it’s not a matter of extreme or mainstream, it’s more of a matter of context and hypocrisy. To address a few of your selected issues... Reproductive and abortion decisions have been returned to the states, as it should have been, however abortion proponents would like you to believe that abortion has been banned throughout the land. Folks who want to ban weapons from law-abiding folks seem to have no issues with having armed folks provide for their security and protection. If man-made climate change is real, why are folks taking 400+ private jets to attend, of all things, a conference to tell you the sins of emitting carbon, while they do so to their hearts’ delights? Again, don’t pay attention to the hyperbole and pay attention to the context and hypocrisy before forming an opinion.
You are in such a bubble that most of your characterizations of the positions of "the right" are incorrect and misinformed. Try diversifying your news sources for starters.
Here's one for you:
"Men can become women (and vice-versa) because of feelings, sex is just randomly 'assigned' at birth, there is really no difference between the sexes and men who feel like women should be able to compete in women's sports and enter their private spaces like locker rooms, sororities and prisons. And let kids change their "gender" through hormones and surgeries!"
vs: "All people should be treated with respect and compassion and allowed to present as they wish, but it is impossible to change sex. There are real differences between the sexes and our laws should respect that fact. Children should not be allowed to make life altering bodily changes and there should be real informed consent and intensive therapy for adults who wish to do so."
Which position do you think most Americans find "extreme" vs. "mainstream"?
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(7) comments
Always enjoy your thoughts, Craig.
What I don't look forward to is before I can even finish one of Craigs great weekly columns - I pause and disgustedly remind myself that the usual suspects are waiting in the wings - Just and Only to trash 90% of his thoughts.
Again that is why the SM DJ hard copy rocks, because I don't have to read those who are full of hatred regardless of what Craig authors.
JustMike650, is there a new law that says you need to read online comments? It is amusing you feel others are “full of hatred” because they have different opinions or different life experiences than what Craig authors. And if 90% of Craig’s thoughts are trashed, perhaps there’s a reason… like Craig isn’t writing “great” weekly columns. (No offense, Craig. I enjoy all your columns on whatever subjects you write about.)
Thanks for your column, Mr. Wiesner. First, your list of media source choices are likely the ones who use the word “extremist” the most, so I’d recommend you ignore their hyperbole. Second, it’s not a matter of extreme or mainstream, it’s more of a matter of context and hypocrisy. To address a few of your selected issues... Reproductive and abortion decisions have been returned to the states, as it should have been, however abortion proponents would like you to believe that abortion has been banned throughout the land. Folks who want to ban weapons from law-abiding folks seem to have no issues with having armed folks provide for their security and protection. If man-made climate change is real, why are folks taking 400+ private jets to attend, of all things, a conference to tell you the sins of emitting carbon, while they do so to their hearts’ delights? Again, don’t pay attention to the hyperbole and pay attention to the context and hypocrisy before forming an opinion.
You are in such a bubble that most of your characterizations of the positions of "the right" are incorrect and misinformed. Try diversifying your news sources for starters.
Here's one for you:
"Men can become women (and vice-versa) because of feelings, sex is just randomly 'assigned' at birth, there is really no difference between the sexes and men who feel like women should be able to compete in women's sports and enter their private spaces like locker rooms, sororities and prisons. And let kids change their "gender" through hormones and surgeries!"
vs: "All people should be treated with respect and compassion and allowed to present as they wish, but it is impossible to change sex. There are real differences between the sexes and our laws should respect that fact. Children should not be allowed to make life altering bodily changes and there should be real informed consent and intensive therapy for adults who wish to do so."
Which position do you think most Americans find "extreme" vs. "mainstream"?
Everyone I have talked to says they are in the middle.
Garbage in garbage out..
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Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.