Modeling a Different Mean

With Election Day behind us, contests and ballot questions are now settled. The Higher Education General Obligation Bond 3 passed statewide with 64% in favor. In Eddy County, it fell just short (7,076 for versus 7,168 against), but the win at the state level will send $1 million to Southeast New Mexico College for a renovation of its Main Building. Thank you to everyone who voted and let their voice be heard.

It also provides a welcome respite from political attack ads. The words “politic” and “polite” sound related, but they are not. The former comes to us from the ancient Greek word for city-state, “polis,” while the latter is from Latin and refers to something “polished” or “smooth.” It morphed into a reference to refined behavior, something that is often in short supply during campaign season.

Unfortunately, negative ads work. Not only do people pay more attention to bad news than good, but voices from those who see themselves as marginalized on the political spectrum are more likely to eschew politeness. If being heard is your primary goal, worrying about being rude is of little concern. But does gaining a political win make being mean justifiable?

German philosopher Immanuel Kant would say no.

His categorical imperative is often thought of as a restatement of the golden rule, that you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Kant, however, goes further, as philosophers are wont to do. According to him, we should only follow maxims—rules for our personal conduct—that can be applied universally. In other words, it isn’t only about how you would want to be treated, but acting in ways that we would want all others to behave as well.

Twenty-one centuries before Kant, Aristotle also examined the question of right conduct. He believed in finding the mean between excess and defect. In Book II of his Nicomachean Ethics, he explains that “virtue both finds and chooses that which is intermediate.” His examples are telling. Between cowardice and rashness, courage. Between boorishness and buffoonery, wit. Between stinginess and wastefulness, generosity. The better way is in the middle, which has come to be known as the “golden mean” through the Roman poet Horace who advocated for a life of balance between extremes.

Some politicians would say that the only way to get things done is to go to extremes when you have the opportunity. That is, however, often a good way to ensure that things get undone soon thereafter. Finding a middle way requires listening and compromise, but the long-term success of bipartisan agreements is proof that they are worth the investment of time. It is an approach that values input from all sides, and it reflects the sum of our collective, albeit imperfect, wisdom. Meeting in the middle can illuminate the best path forward.

Our actions serve as a model for others, particularly the next generation. When we explain away being unkind and turning a deaf ear to others as less important than some end, we fail to exemplify a better way.

In February 1860, three months before being nominated for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln concluded a speech that elevated him to national recognition. Flipping the authoritarian claim of “might makes right,” he said, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

Let us dare to model a different mean.

Kevin Beardmore, Ed.D., is President of Southeast New Mexico College. He may be reached at kbeardmore@senmc.edu or 575.234.9211