Finally, Model Three is concerned with unity. Compromise and understanding are good in this model, while conflict and polarization are evil. All kinds of people are respected; all ideas can coexist. Evil only comes about when groups misunderstand or intrude on each other.
I’m a Model Three user, but I didn’t always know that. I used to wonder why my political spirit was so impotent, why I felt uncomfortable when my friends discussed good and bad philosophies (or worse, good and bad people), and why I failed to dismiss other people’s opinions, even the most fanatical.
Then I realized that I’m simply wired that way. My brain feels the need to listen to everyone. It respects every thought. It wants to build a great system, a citadel of ideas, with a room for every opinion. That’s my idea of good.
Since I embraced the model, my thoughts have been flowing more freely and consonantly. But not only does it suit my mind; Model Three is also useful socially, specifically against polarization. People are more likely to cooperate and compromise when they feel listened to, when their ideas are welcomed. It doesn’t work on everyone, but on enough people to make a difference.
In order to not be meaningless, Model Three has to discriminate. Its users need some political inclinations. I, for one, believe socialism to be more sustainable than capitalism, so in my ideal compromise, capitalism would have to make greater concessions. Also, some ideas are just too destructive. Nazism, for example, can’t coexist with anyone but its horrible siblings, the other fascistic offshoots. The citadel would crumble if those occupants were left unchecked. I wouldn’t erase Nazism, but I’d try to have it pruned, reduced to little more than an aesthetic and some Germanic pride.
That’s the methodology of Model Three: Movements can’t all coexist as they are, but they can be modified to do so. Polished, purified, or deconstructed. Or, in the case of Nazism, utterly hollowed out. Model Three isn’t only a model, but a project.
I’ll admit that I’ve implied a hierarchy of sophistication between the models. I’ve painted One as the simplest and most impetuous, and Three as the most peaceful and intellectual. However, true to Model Three, I see value in all models. Each is needed to maintain the citadel. Perhaps a Model One guy could teach me to be even less lenient towards Nazis. I’d be grateful.