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Let’s talk about the Humble part first. It could be called Trying Not To Be An Asshole. 

Who’s an asshole? Selfish, mean and uncaring all fit the bill.

But one definition I believe most of us would agree with is that someone who think’s they are right, all the time, is an asshole. We have all met people like that, in various situations. This could be about what to pick for dinner or who to pick for president.

So I try not to do that or be like that. I try to listen. And I try to remember I can be wrong, even when I think I’m really, really right.

The Radical part is a bit different. If you look at history, it’s usually the radicals who are most right. It’s the Radicals who wanted to unequivocally abolish slavery, end the gold standard, have public power and withdraw from the Vietnam War (to name a few causes that I view as positive.) I’m defining a Radical as someone who wants big change.

I have sometimes been accused of being a moderate. Yuck. Who wants to be that? Moderates are mushy, milk-toasty, unappealing. Splitting differences, which can often mean getting the worst of both sides, is not always best.

But here’s the thing. While the Radicals can be really right, they can also be really, really wrong. Susan B. Anthony not only crusaded for the right to women to vote; she crusaded for Prohibition, one of the worst ideas in history. Abbie Hoffman, the 60s yippie, not only spoke out prominently to end the Vietnam War, he advocated stealing this book, a horrible, destructive idea. William Jennings Bryan not only wanted to stop backing paper money with gold, a view history shows to have been correct; he wanted to not teach evolution! The problem with Radicals, maybe the problem with all of us, is that we don’t know when we’re wrong, and when we’re right, till much later if at all.

Which gets us back to not being an asshole. I’ll try to speak firmly for what I think is true and best, while remembering events and history may prove I was wrong.

I’ll do these things on matters as weighty as police misconduct and how to make a soufflé. On matters such as the best blend of transportation systems, to the placement of travel signs. I’ll be light when I can, heavy when I need to be.

Actually, just thinking now, I could have also called this newsletter “The Humble Reactionary.” By my definition, a reactionary is someone who doesn’t want things to change, or who wants things to go back to the way they were. I am a reactionary on some issues. We probably are all of us mixtures of radical and reactionary. The same principle applies though: speak clearly, but remember you can be wrong, even when you feel you’re the most right.

All this is quite heavy, and perhaps misleading because often I will be commenting on lighter subjects like architecture, travel and what to have for dinner, or what to watch on television. I hope to have a tasty tray that will have something you enjoy.

Bon Appetit.