A fierce partisan of moderation.
The week's news at a glance.
Canada
Stephen Lautens
The Calgary Sun
I am your typical Canadian radical, said Stephen Lautens in The Calgary Sun. “I’m passionate about my beliefs and I’ll defend them to the end.” But as a Canadian, my passion is for “being moderate.” Moderation in all things really is a radical position in today’s world, where so many people believe they have a monopoly on the truth. And it’s not easy to be moderate. “It takes real effort to try to understand the world in all its complexities and see it in other than black and white.” Extremists are always proposing sweeping solutions for society’s problems—a flat tax, say, or a change of regime. “Moderates are never certain, and know there are no quick fixes.” We support the troops, but we question whether to deploy them in places where the enemy is ill-defined, such as Afghanistan or Iraq. We believe in dialogue and negotiation, but we recognize that you can’t bargain with terrorists. “Live and let live” is our “non-battle cry.” It can be hard, when global problems seem so intractable, to resist the temptation to start shrieking. But we radicals will struggle to remain “fiercely moderate—no matter how nuts the world gets.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Amazon's 'James Bond' deal could mean a new future for 007
In the Spotlight The franchise was previously owned by the Broccoli family
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Why are Republicans suddenly panicking about DOGE?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Trump and Musk take a chainsaw to the federal government, a growing number of Republicans worry that the massive cuts are hitting a little too close to home
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is JD Vance's Net Worth?
In Depth The vice president is rich, but not nearly as wealthy as his boss and many of his boss' appointees
By David Faris Published