Customer Reviews

Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now

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Ostensibly about politics, Radical Middle is more than that. I appreciate that Mark Satin dares to go beyond the labels and finger pointing to offer us a framework from which we might evolve a new way of managing issues in the public arena. He cuts to the chase of those problems that currently daunt us, problems like declining energy supplies, disengaged youth, random terrorism, and more. He helps us by introducing us to the best ideas of the current thinkers and policy makers in these different arenas, synthesizing and reporting on these ideas in clear, easy-to-read prose.
What makes his discourse particularly engaging (and courageous) is the way Satin relates his personal experiences and evolution of thought to the issues. I like the message of hope he weaves into the description of challenges we face as a society, national and global, and the encouragment we can be involved in meeting them.
I recommend this book to any activist, public official, business leader, parent, teacher, student or person who truly desires a safer, kinder, more humane world.

I like this book very much. It is a cry from the heart--from a very informed heart--and it captures much that needs to be understood. It is not, however, the first effort in this direction. This book was published in 2004. Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson published "The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World" in 2000, coincident with the appearance of Marianne Williamson's extraordinary edited work, "IMAGINE: What American Could be in the 21st Century." Ted Halstead and Michael Lind published "The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics," in 2001. In 2002 Ralph Nader capped off decades of activism along these lines with "Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Run for President." In 2003 we had Matthew Miller's "The 2% Solution: Fixing America's Problem in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love." See my reviews of all of those, and my list on democracy, to appreciate this book by this author, in a larger context.

The most important meme to come out to me--an aggressive iconoclast if ever there was one--dealt with the importance of turning away from rebellion for the sake of rebellion, and focusing instead of being a player, on bringing corporations to the table as Paul Hawken and others suggest in "Natural Capitalism" (which the author cites).

Early messages from this book include: Ignore the noise including Moore and Franken; Creative borrowing from all points of view to achieve public policy; Radical middle provides concrete answers instead of platitudes; Work with corporations instead of attacking them blindly; Idealism without the illusions. Four on key values: maximize choices, fair start for all, maximize human potential, help the developing world. The author then gives us four sections, with the highlights listed below.

Maximizing choices:
1) Universal health care that is also preventive and integrative
2) Law reform--affordable, meaningful
3) End oil dependency--parallel energies, seven paths (conservation, renewables, fossil fuels, hydrogen, nuclear, biobased, and values-change path

Fair start
1) great teachers (overlooks two-parent family, serious games, total change to curriculum)
2) affirmative action with teeth, not just letting in black-skinned white minds
3) Job for everyone and a financial next egg as well

Maximize human potential
1) corporations we can be proud of
2) biotech with adult supervision
3) bring back the draft--for EVERYONE (one of the best pieces)

Help the developed world
1) Globalization with savvy and feeling (address poverty, raise standards)
2) Make the WTO transparent
3) Humanitarian intervention in time--no more genocides (great piece)
4) Tough on terrorism and causes of terrorism

Be a player not a rebel
1) professional schools, not radical groups, are our incubators now (compassionate MDs, holistic MBAs, visionary JDs,
2) stay informed
3) join groups that matter and push them to the middle
4) run for office
5) open up the political process (free media, tax credits, proportional representation, instant run-offs, non-partisan redistricting,

Just this morning, a friend in Seattle sent me an email about a new meme that goes beyond the split between "for profit" and "non-profit" to speak of "new profit." That is the distillation of what Paul Hawken and Herman Daly ("Ecological Economics") are trying to capture. The old concept of corporate profit loots the commons. The new concept of profit, what I call Communal Capitalism, others call it Capitalism 3.0 or Natural Capitalism, understands that true profit must be perpetual and distributed.

This author has a following and is part of the solution. I recommend all the books I listed above, and this one.

See also:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Two Percent Solution: Fixing America's Problems in Ways Liberals and Conservatives Can Love
The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics
The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World

"Radical Middle" is several things: The title of Mark Satin's new book being reviewed here, the title of his newsletter, the title of his web site and the name of an exciting new political concept.

I have followed Mark Satin for a long time, having been a charter subscriber to his previous newsletter, "New Options" and to his current "Radical Middle" newsletter. And I have read two of his previous books in addition to "Radical Middle."

Because of occasional disagreements with some specific content from the current newsletter, I was ready to be skeptical of Mark's new book. But instead, I must admit that I am highly impressed. I believe the book does a thorough job of explaining the Radical Middle concept to readers, regardless of their background, political leanings, or even newsletter subscriber status. In each book chapter, Mark expanded upon past "Radical Middle" newsletter articles and included more nuances and detail, which help to flesh out and explain his positions better.

While there were still a few points where I winced, there were many more knowing smiles and nods. In fact, in some cases I found that my position was not that far away from Mark's after all, once I finally understood his position more fully. And even where there remain points of disagreement, I commend Mark for creating, thoroughly explaining and maintaining his voice and his ground.

I should also state that I had my wife read the education chapter. She is a former full-time teacher, and currently does some substitute teaching. She had not read any of Mark's past books, newsletters, web site, etc., so had a fresh perspective. And she loved the chapter, agreeing with Mark's central thesis that quality teachers are what great education is all about.

The resource lists at each chapter end are also very useful, and I recommend readers to pursue some them to follow up with your own investigations of issues. I am doing so.

Overall, I deeply respect how Mark has utilized all his varied life experiences in coming to a mature, organized synthesis of ideas.

And in our polarized times, the Radical Middle political concept is exactly what we need to grow from concept to full-fledged reality.

I am both smarter and kinder for having read it. This book is written by an intense, strong willed, hard at work, very smart person with a sense of humor (irony, humbleness) and a good heart.

Most important, he communicates with small words and clarity the process that he uses to get to his proposals. He teaches his hard-won skills of compassionate yet sharp analysis without ever saying so. As a reader, I can't help but pick up a little of his skill and am doubly grateful for his work product- i.e. the specific proposals on political and social issues which I often but not always agree with- and for his honest teaching of how to seek truth in the political and social realms. Together, these qualities make the book so valuable.

If you're interested in politics, but turned off by polemics; If you worry about public policy, but frustrated by the solutions you hear; If you want to make a difference in the world, but don't know how -- then you have to buy this book. Mark Satin, a recovered sixties counter-culture radical, is giving voice to the previously 'excluded middle' of American politics. He incorporates cutting-edge research from some of the most innovative thinkers in America, while speaking from the heart to "caring persons" from every background. I honestly believe his "radical centrist" approach is the only hope for politics, and it can't come too soon for me. Buy the book, talk about it with your friends, apply it to your life -- help make the future happen sooner.

One of Mark Satin's most engaging charactistics is his honesty about himself. I have followed him from his first newsletter to his first book "New Age Politics" to his current newsletter and the book by the same title ("The Radical Middle"). He clearly has morphed into something new, which comes through well to me in this book. His writing style is engaging and energetic; he has good documentation; he earnestly believes we need to create something new in our society to replace the extreme polarization we are currently experiencing. He is inclusive and optimistic, believing in each citizen to think independently. His writing is not "academic," but well-researched and well-cited. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for even one glimmer of hope for us as a society with a positive and constructive future!

Edryce Reynolds
Tacoma, Washington

At the suggestion of Paul (a friend in the IL legislature), I've just finished reading the new book "Radical Middle:The Politics We Need Now", by Mark Satin. It's an excellent book that discusses new ideas which creatively and pragmatically use the best from both sides of the usual political divide. (In other words, this is not just a try at getting extremists to meet halfway.)

I really like the values, and a lot of the proposals. There's a potential here for "the next Ross Perot," who may not have won his election, but did define the terms of debate on his key issue -- the Federal Deficit -- for a decade. If I were running either of the two major political parties, I'd be all over this book, considering how to make the big tent of my party extend enough to include these issues and the people who care about them.

Highly recommended.

I think this is a great book and I recommend it to anyone interested in integral politics. Below is a copy of an email I sent to Mark Satin.

"I have just read your book Radical Middle and I am most impressed--CUDOS. I have been checking out the material on your website for four months now--great job. I ordered two more copies of your book to loan friends. I will soon be ordering your newsletter. I read Ken Wilber's work and I have read Spiral Dynamics and a lot of other integral oriented folks. I consider your work to be very integral.

I have one disagreement and that is with your view on proportional representation (PR). I agree that PR with too many positions in a district can lead to too many parties and that can lead to chaos. If you had a 5 member PR/STV (choice voting) dist. with a d'Hont allocation formula you would have true 2 party districts and eliminate gerrymandering. Third parties would be unlikely get positions if they have to have 14% or more of the electorate to get a position. I think a study of Ireland, Malta, and Austrailia where such systems are used would be of value here. Thank you."

There has never been a time any of us can remember when politics was so important, our nation so divided. Neither the left nor the right, Democrats nor Republicans, offer what the majority of us want. And the majority of us have been singled out by pollsters as the "cultural creatives" - those who hunger for real solutions to our biggest problems without losing touch with reality's harsh facts. We model more after Benjamin Franklin, than New Age illusionists or antiglobalists. The agenda we aspire to, the nuts and bolts of what defines the radical middle, are distilled and explained in Mark Satin's book.

Please, put in an advance order for "Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now." You will not be sorry. This book, not the tirades of movie stars and radio talk show hosts, has the information we have all been waiting for. Politicians beware. The majority in the United States of America are moving, millions strong, toward the radical middle. - beyond the din of the empty and false promises of demo-publicans. Our numbers will ensure we are heard!

The Publisher's Weekly does a dis-service to this book. Better read the review in the Jan 2005 Futurist (http://www.wfs.org/revsatinjf05.htm)
This book is an outstanding and insightful description of ways in which the left and right can think together about our society's, and the world's, enormous problems, and then begin to work to solve them. Much more useful than shooting at each other. Only by finding the common ground will it be possible to break through the morass we find ourselves in. Remember the advice to both right and left, "Put your hand on your knees--they're jerking!"