My Radical Parents

And am I sometimes too radical myself?

opinion by Doug Collins

I've realized just recently how radical my parents were. This was a complete surprise to me because I've previously always thought of my father as somewhat conservative, my mother as somewhat liberal, and of course the younger me as the sometime extremist. But now I see I've gotten this wrong. What brought on this realization was the birth of my new baby boy. My wife and I had a comparatively natural childbirth. She avoided painkillers, we learned about and used a couple traditional herbs to promote a healthy pregnancy, together we walked a lot and did a lot of physical work in late pregnancy to help bring on an easy labor, and on the big day I cut the cord. After experiencing all this, out of curiosity I asked my mom about her childbearing experiences. She said she was made unconscious during the delivery of her children because that's simply how doctors did it back then. Furthermore, neither she nor my father even touched me in the first couple days of life, because all babies were brought to an observation room directly after birth. My sisters and I never breastfed, because infant formula was the rage at that time, considered superior to mother's milk. When my mom told me this, first I felt like I was some sort of unnatural synthetic offspring. Then I simply realized how much radical faith she had then had in the superiority of technology over tradition and nature, an extreme faith shared by my dad, the medical establishment, and the general culture at the time of my birth. If I had been born 30 years earlier, I would probably have shared the same sort of radicalism.

Now, my parents are not the same believers as they were, and neither are others. For example, everyone knows now that breastfeeding is usually simply more healthy than infant formula. As a culture, we have recently been rediscovering that the wisdom of nature and tradition is not something that we can ignore without consequences and costs. But the best lesson that I've learned from looking at this cultural shift is that radical faith--in any form--can be a risky proposition. After all, consider the opposite form of radicalism. The consequences of radically rejecting technology might be worse than unquestioning faith in technology. Consider, too, all other types of radicalism, such as radical political belief. Here's where I have to look at myself.

In my twenties, I myself had a radical faith in anarchist political philosophy, a faith which began waning after I had a dream one night. I dreamed of two cities, one fascist, and one anarchist. In the fascist city, people were overwhelmed by alarms and bells, each ringing to mark the hour, to signal the beginning of work or school, or to signal some transgression of the rules. Everyone had to respond to the bells, and it seemed that everyone was beckoned to be two places at once. People were really stressed out because the whole society was organized along the needs of the leaders, who of course controlled the bells.

In the anarchist city, everyone on the city streets moved autonomously on bicycles, but there were no traffic rules, and the intersections were quickly jammed up with bicycles going all directions, unable to move forward smoothly. Again there was a rising cacophony of bells--this time bicyclists ringing their bells at each other--and again people were really stressed out, even though they each individually controlled the bells.

This dream helped me realize how a successful pursuit of a political philosophy can actually harm the quality of life in a society, and that it doesn't matter if the philosophy is right wing, left wing, east wing, west wing, or even middle wing. Excessive faith in an ideal can threaten health, environment, and economy if the pursuit of this ideal becomes more important than the welfare of actual people. The consequence of such extremism is that people are expendable. Radicalism at this point becomes idealism without soul. At times, such extremism becomes the norm, often associated with revolutions, massive advances in technology, or other big changes. Most people follow the radical formulas of such periods, often out of unspoken fear of doing otherwise.

It's easy to see radicalism in someone else or at some other point in history, or to put the label of "extremism" on ideas we don't agree with. But it's important to be aware of potential extremism in ourselves right now, and check it if it gets out of hand. Following are some warning signs. If I have an unquestioning belief in a hero or system of thought, I am susceptible. If I find myself advocating some sort of complete change from past practice, I am very likely going overboard. If at times I think, "The world would be better off without those kind of people" (whatever kind of people I don't like), then I am most definitely being too radical. It's important to understand that nearly everyone experiences these feelings at some times, so there's no need to be embarrassed. Just keep in mind the warning signs, so you know when you have gone too far out of balance.

Keeping your balance in life should not be confused with stasis or centrism. After all, when you are standing on your feet, it's healthy and normal to put most of your weight sometimes on your left leg, and sometimes on your right. This keeps both legs stronger and also helps prevent fatigue. Just as with your body, it's healthy to let your ideas sometimes weigh one way, and then another. If you lock your convictions permanently in the right, left, or even the center, you are doing yourself an unhealthy disservice. The trick is to allow change to happen in yourself and in society, but not let the change become one-sided, benefiting one part at the expense of the rest. In terms of politics, the comparatively low quality of life in most single-party states is an excellent cautionary example.

The positive message here is that we should embrace healthy, flexible change that is at least partly grounded in the past practices of nature and tradition. An excess of radicalism is sometimes hard to see because it promises positive change, but in fact causes stagnancy and conformity. Such have been the promises of ideologues of any persuasion: a free-marketer who thinks the cure-all is eliminating all corporate regulation, a communist who thinks problems will be solved by jailing all class enemies, a "centrist" who believes small political parties should be banned, a prohibitionist who believes alcohol is the cause of all social ills, a religious leader who promises heaven if people follow him, a farmer who invests everything into pesticides or genetically engineered crops, a doctor who in giving a treatment loses sight of the patient, a spouse who insists on his/her partner doing things "my way." Do you recognize a part of yourself in any of these?

Some readers might interpret my critique of radicalism as a rejection of any form of political conviction or religious faith. It's most definitely not. It's good to have convictions, but it's not good to belittle, outlaw, control, or try to eliminate the convictions of others. Society, like your body, must shift and move regularly, and each arm and leg must honor the others. At the moment, you may argue one side of an issue and your friend the other. Ten years from now, you may possibly find the table turned. Don't rule out that possibility, and--more important--don't lose your friend.