The author warns that rising extremes on both the Left and the Right threaten American democracy and argues that moderates must unite to form a strong centrist movement, possibly a new 'unity' party. Both extremes, despite their differences, are increasingly promoting anti-Jewish rhetoric rooted in geopolitical conflict, conspiracies, and scapegoating. History shows that Jews are often early targets in societal collapse; government failure and social unrest enable such scapegoating. The piece urges immediate action to recruit and back centrist candidates because young people exposed to meme culture are especially vulnerable to extremist messaging.
Save the Center: Moderates Must Unite to Stop Extremism and Protect Pluralism
The author warns that rising extremes on both the Left and the Right threaten American democracy and argues that moderates must unite to form a strong centrist movement, possibly a new 'unity' party. Both extremes, despite their differences, are increasingly promoting anti-Jewish rhetoric rooted in geopolitical conflict, conspiracies, and scapegoating. History shows that Jews are often early targets in societal collapse; government failure and social unrest enable such scapegoating. The piece urges immediate action to recruit and back centrist candidates because young people exposed to meme culture are especially vulnerable to extremist messaging.
01:22 PM, 11/13/2025Politics
Save the Center: Moderates Must Unite to Stop Extremism and Protect Pluralism
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
As political extremes on both the Left and the Right gain momentum and outsized media attention in the United States, it is urgent that moderates from both major parties look beyond partisan labels and organize a forceful centrist movement — and consider creating a new American unity party if necessary.
Our political center must hold. If it collapses, the result could be more than disorder: it could be a fundamental unraveling of the pluralistic civic order Americans have sustained since World War II. If the far Left and far Right discover shared interests and combine efforts toward even a single major objective, the danger to the country will be severe.
Shared dangers and the rise of antisemitism
Although the extremes disagree on many substantive issues — immigration being a prominent one — both ends of the spectrum are increasingly finding common cause in anti-Jewish rhetoric. On the newly energized Left, hostility toward Jews often traces to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which has sometimes been distorted into older, pernicious anti-Jewish myths by hostile actors and outside propaganda.
Parts of the anti-capitalist Left also reflexively associate 'Jewry' with Wall Street and global finance, continuing an age-old conspiracy narrative. Ironically, the historic Left included many followers of Karl Marx, who was himself Jewish.
On the emergent Right, anti-Jewish sentiment is frequently tied to racial animus and conspiratorial ideas that accuse Jews of controlling government or manipulating immigration to 'replace' a mythical White Christian America. For some on the far Right, American Jews are denied inclusion in their conception of 'authentic' national identity.
If the two extremes were to form an alliance, they would not merely tie a political knot — they would form a noose threatening Jewish communities and the pluralistic society that protects everyone's rights.
History and causes
Across Western history, Jews have often served as an early warning sign of broader social breakdown: what happens first to Jews in a society frequently precedes persecution of other groups. Modern Russia and Germany, medieval Spain and England, and ancient Rome and Byzantium all provide cautionary precedent.
There are religious explanations for these patterns, but a clear secular cause is also evident: when governments fail to meet citizens' basic needs or to regulate economic life properly, social unrest grows. In periods of crisis, authorities and movements sometimes deflect blame onto minority groups — and Jews have often been an early scapegoat. The first victims of such breakdowns are rarely the last.
Why moderates must act now
The political vacuum created by entrenched partisan gridlock makes fertile ground for extremists. Elected leaders must put aside obstructive deadlock and work to restore competence, accountability, and common-purpose governance before fear and conspiracy take deeper root.
Young Americans — especially those under 30, and disproportionately young men — are currently among the most receptive audiences for extremist messaging. Many in Gen Z and Gen Alpha lack personal memory of the worst consequences when the center fails; their primary news exposure often comes through TikTok, memes, and other fast-moving online channels that amplify outrage and misinformation.
If Boomers and Millennials leave America's political culture without a functioning bulwark against extremists, younger generations risk seeing 'the lunatics running the asylum.' That bulwark must be a coherent, pragmatic, and values-driven political center.
What readers can do
Start now to recruit, support, and organize around candidates who can rebuild and defend the center — regardless of their current party labels. Waiting until a primary or a general election may be too late; by then many voters face only a Hobson's choice or the lesser-of-two-evils dilemma.
Actively support candidates who prioritize governance, protect minority rights, and reject extremist rhetoric on both sides. That is how we preserve pluralism, check extremism, and keep American democracy resilient.
Rabbi Bruce Diamond is a resident of Fort Myers. This article originally appeared in the Fort Myers News-Press.