The mind of the pragmatic moderate

The occasional portrayal of pragmatic moderates as wish-washy is a gross misunderstanding by people who are usually themselves rigid ideologues.

I read this last night in a book given to me by my sister in-law. I think it goes a long way towards explaining the thinking of the pragmatic moderate, at least this one:

"Fear of harm ought to be proportional not merely to the gravity of the harm, but also to the probability of the event."

Indeed, I think that's a wise way to think about public policy. As the author adds:

"Any decision relating to risk involves two distinct and yet inseparable elements: the objective facts and the subjective view about the desirability of what is to be gained, or lost, by the decision. [O]nly the pathologically risk-averse make choices based on the consequences without regard to the probability involved. [O]nly the foolhardy make choices based on the probability of an outcome without regard to its consequences.

Bernstein, Peter L. Against the Gods, the Remarkable Story of Risk