The Radical Moderate
by July 10, 2012 7:19 pm 513 views
Former Democratic Secretary of State candidate Pat O'Brien this week released an e-book called “The Radical Moderate”. The book covers O'Brien's personal views of politics and public policy.
I spoke with O'Brien this week about his book.
Q: What are the key arguments of your book?
Free markets and capitalism are the best economic models. However, the definition of these terms have been distorted in my view. The economy has always been most efficient when there is moderate regulation by the government. It is best when there is a referee to keep the game clean. These same principles also apply to social and policy issues such as immigration, civil rights and criminal justice. My key argument is that all the data already exists to solve our challenges, but it requires viewing that data from a new perspective.
Q: What is so “radical” in your message?
From my perspective, all of these policy prescriptions are very reasonable and common sense ideas. However, they are “radical” because they are vastly different than what the political establishment is currently proposing. T
hey are radical in the same way that Windows software and iPhones were once just wacky ideas. There is a more efficient way to conduct our politics, but very few people are talking about it. Finally, a “radical moderate” is very passionate about achieving these goals. This political thought is based on hard core principles. It's not about being in the center — it's about being correct.
Q: Why did you write this book?
I wrote “The Radical Moderate” to clarify my own personal view of politics and public policy. I have never been satisfied with the choices of liberal, conservative or even moderate as they are currently known. This book offers something different.
O'Brien is marketing his book through social media, email and good old-fashioned word of mouth.
You can download the e-book through his website www.theradicalmod.com or on Amazon.com.