By Robert Stark

The Webster Dictionary defines racism as “a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” The term racism did not enter the vernacular until the early 20th Century and has since evolved from simply hating other races, to believing that certain groups have inborn superior traits, to further evolving to adapt to the great awokening with a new definition of racism as a socially constructed system that maintains White privilege. Thus racism is treated as a secular sin and moral transgression.

The debate over race politics is one of the most divisive and emotionally charged issues, relying upon a hyper moralistic good vs. evil narrative. Both the racist and the anti-racist are hyper moralistic, with the racist saying that the other race is evil while the anti-racist says that racists are just evil, thus have no rational motives. Woke cultural is obviously hyper moralistic and emotion driven but those who critique woke culture, such as proponents of color blindness, fail to offer a viable alternative. For instance, rationalism has some value but its data driven mindset treats man as a computer by ignoring baser instinctual motives. Also rationalists are too politically correct when it comes to exploring taboos about human nature and being able to decipher whether these baser human instincts are “rational” or not. Modern liberalism has told us to suppress these baser instincts, regardless of whether they are rational or not.

An overly simplistic look at race politics on the political spectrum would place Woke/Critical Race Theory ideology on the far left, White Supremacy on the far right and color blindness in the center. I call for a Radical Centrism that is non-binary in that it breaks from that spectrum. This new non-binary framework rejects color blindness, and like the far right and far left accepts the reality of power dialects. It takes a more rightwing understanding of human nature as tribal and hierarchical but seeks progressive rather than reactionary solutions, reconciling the pros and cons of the demagogue and the rationalist.

A politics based upon psychology is needed because there is a lack of honesty about these baser instincts across all sides of the spectrum, as far as understanding how they impact political decisions. The philosophy embraces the baser human instincts but seeks to better decipher and manage them in a productive manner. It is a political philosophy but also a psychological method for understanding and better managing problems from a psychological basis and them implemented them into politics. The method identifies baser emotions such as anger, hatred, envy, lust, and greed, acknowledges their legitimacy as natural rather than immoral, and then seeks out better solutions and ways to manage them on a personal, social, and political level. It seeks not just to manage them but to channel the energy of these potent emotional forces into more productive endeavors. For instance there may be certain cases where envy, lust, greed, and hatred could be useful rather than just destructive. The same principles apply to better managing power dynamics in regards to race, gender, class, and social status.

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