I got an email out of the blue on Saturday. Normally unsolicited email is junk but this turned out to be interesting.

It was the "Radical Middle Newsletter: Thoughtful Idealism, Informed Hope".

Radical Middle is one of the fastest-growing political newsletters in Washington, D.C. But it’s not your usual Washington newsletter. It expresses an emerging new planetary political perspective and sensibility, which we like to call “radical middle.”.... [Radical Middle Newsletter] analyze(s) pressing national and global issues from a radical middle perspective

I was intrigued and did a quick skim over it so I can’t say I know anything about this newsletter or website, but I will probably be reading some more of their content. The content does look really good.

I came across the book the editor of the newsletter, Mark Satin, wrote called, "Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now"

I haven’t read it of course, but I thought I would pass along what I found to my readers.

Here is how the Author describes the book:

[the book] is a popularization, not a work of high political theory or detailed public policy. It should be accessible—even enjoyable—to any caring person;

It is the first truly comprehensive introduction to the radical middle political perspective (outlines what I think of as our Four Key Values and discusses nearly every major domestic and global issue of our time);

It is the first truly comprehensive introduction to the radical middle political movement (covers everything from doing "good work" in the professions, to collaborative approaches to community organizing, to radical middle approaches to political reform, and highlights over 50 organizations doing the work of the radical middle);

It represents a truly collaborative effort. Nearly 80 thinkers and activists are profusely thanked in the acknowledgements;

It is often quite personal in content and tone—as it should be, since radical middle politics comes from the heart as well as the head.

Sounds interesting and something I might take a crack at reading. more...

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Politics today has degenerated into one shouting match after another. If it isn’t Democrats against Republicans, then it’s the Al Frankens of the world against the Bill O’Reillys. The overheated rhetoric may be entertaining. But in the process, real opportunities – to achieve everything from universal, preventive health care to deep corporate reform to energy independence – are slipping away.

Does politics have to be this way? No. According to this smart and unabashedly positive book, millions of caring people are coming up with inclusive new solutions to our problems (and collaborative new ways of working on them) that amount to a whole new politics – radical middle politics.

Instead of playing the usual blame games, the radical middle appreciates the genuine and often very reasonable concerns of the left and right – and builds on them toward something new. Instead of being some mushy middle, the radical middle is both visionary and realistic. It dares to propose path-breaking solutions to everything from underperforming schools to looming terrorism without ever losing touch with the often complex facts on the ground.

Radical Middle will show you what you can do to make our politics less like schoolyard combat and more like an expression of the practical and creative people that we are.

Link to the Preface of the book.

Link to the newsletter.