The place for moderates in politics.

(This is a post that may be modified from time to time, in my attempt to articulate the importance of the moderate position in politics.)

There is a scientific principle - which I can not remember the name of at the moment, that uses the following example:

If you get everyone in a town to guess the weight of a cow, and you include every one's guesses and average them out, the average comes in at almost exactly the actual weight of the cow. (That principle has been proven to be true).  There is more to the example, but  right now, that is all I can remember about it.


The point being, if one considers all political points of view, the best "solution" (to a policy issue)  is usually going to be roughly the average, meaning the moderate position.  It takes into account some of each side's point of view.

That is basically why Congress is divided up into the House and the Senate. It is the best way, maybe the only way yet devised, that allows for opposite camps to arrive at consensus, without violence. Both sides need to compromise. 

When one side refuses to compromise at all, and the other side feels like they are being totally ignored - shafted, etc.,  then it drives the other side to the opposite extreme, and it ultimately ends badly for both sides.

It is like the Taoist/Buddhist concept of yin and yang. Opposites are necessary for each other to exist, and the universe is constantly seeking balance between the two.  It also relates to Newton's Third Law of motion:  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.