Mark Ivor Satin (born November 16, 1946) is an American political theorist, author, and newsletter publisher. He is best known for contributing to the development and dissemination of three political perspectives – neopacifism in the 1960s, New Age politics in the 1970s and 1980s, and

radical centrism Radical centrism (also called the radical center, the radical centre or the radical middle) is a concept that arose in Western nations in the late 20th century. The ''radical'' in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical cen ...

in the 1990s and 2000s. Satin's work is sometimes seen as building toward a new political ideology, and then it is often labeled "transformational",Christa Daryl Slaton, "An Overview of the Emerging Political Paradigm: A Web of Transformational Theories", in Stephen Woolpert, Christa Daryl Slaton, and Edward W. Schwerin, eds., ''Transformational Politics: Theory, Study, and Practice'', State University of New York Press, 1998, p. 11. . "post-liberal",Jeff Rosenberg, "Mark's Ism: New Options's Editor Builds a New Body Politic", ''

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...

'', March 17, 1989, pp. 6–8. or "post-Marxist".Dana L. Cloud, "'Socialism of the Mind': The New Age of Post-Marxism," in Herbert W. Simons and

Michael Billig Michael Billig (born 1947) is a British academic. He is Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences at Loughborough University, working principally in contemporary social psychology although much of his work crosses disciplinary boundaries in the social ...

, eds., ''After Postmodernism: Reconstructing Ideology Critique'', Sage Publications, 1994, p. 235. . One historian calls Satin's writing "post-hip". After emigrating to Canada at the age of 20 to avoid serving in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, Satin co-founded the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme, which helped bring American war resisters to Canada. He also wrote the ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' (1968), which sold nearly 100,000 copies. After a period that author

Marilyn Ferguson Marilyn Ferguson (April 5, 1938, in Grand Junction, Colorado – October 19, 2008) was an American author, editor and public speaker known for her 1980 book ''The Aquarian Conspiracy'' which is connected with the New Age Movement. A founding m ...

describes as Satin's "anti-ambition experiment",Marilyn Ferguson, "Foreword", in Mark Satin, ''New Options for America: The Second American Experiment Has Begun'', The Press at California State University / Southern Illinois University Press, 1991, pp. xi–xiii. . Satin wrote ''New Age Politics'' (1978), which identifies an emergent "third force" in North America pursuing such goals as

simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...

, decentralism, and global responsibility. Satin spread his ideas by co-founding an American political organization, the

New World Alliance The New World Alliance was an American political organization that sought to articulate and implement what it called "transformational" political ideas. It was organized in the late 1970s and dissolved in 1983. It has been described as the firs ...

, and by publishing an international political newsletter, ''New Options''. He also co-drafted the foundational statement of the

U.S. Green Party The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green party, Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democra ...

, "Ten Key Values". Following a period of political disillusion, spent mainly in law school and practicing business law, Satin launched a new political newsletter and wrote a book, ''Radical Middle'' (2004). Both projects criticized political partisanship and sought to promote mutual learning and innovative policy syntheses across social and cultural divides. In an interview, Satin contrasts the old radical slogan "Dare to struggle, dare to win" with his radical-middle version, "Dare to synthesize, dare to take it all in".Carter Phipps, "Politics Gets Inclusive", ''What Is Enlightenment?'', June–August 2005, p. 29. Satin has been described as "colorful"John Hagan, ''Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada'', Harvard University Press, 2001, pp. 74–78. . and "intense",The Editors, "New Students, Seasoned Pros", ''The Law School: The Magazine of the New York University School of Law'', spring 1993, p. 9. and all his initiatives have been controversial. Bringing war resisters to Canada was opposed by many in the anti-Vietnam War movement. ''New Age Politics'' was not welcomed by many on the traditional left or right, and ''Radical Middle'' dismayed an even broader segment of the American political community. Even Satin's personal life has generated controversy.

Early years

Many mid-1960s American radicals came from small cities in the Midwest and Southwest, as did Satin: he grew up in

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead () is a city in and county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moorhead is also home to several ...

, and

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

. His father, who saw combat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

,Lynda Hurst,
A Picture and a Thousand Words
, ''Toronto Star'', August 24, 2008, "Ideas" section, p. 8. Retrieved April 17, 2011. was a college professor and author of a Cold War-era textbook on Western civilization.Joseph Satin, ''The Humanities Handbook'', Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969. . His mother was a homemaker.Mark Satin, ''Confessions of a Young Exile'', Gage Publishing Co. / Macmillan of Canada, 1976, pp. 6–8. . As a youth, Satin was restless and rebellious, and his behavior did not change after leaving for university. In early 1965, at age 18, he dropped out of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

to work with the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

Holly Springs, Mississippi Holly Springs is a city in, and the county seat of, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the southern border of Tennessee. Near the Mississippi Delta, the area was developed by European Americans for cotton plantations and was dep ...

.Mark Satin, ''Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now'', Basic Books, 2004, orig. Westview Press, 2004, pp. 28–30. . Later that year, he was told to leave

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 2020 it had 5,141 undergraduate students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in 1922 as ...

, in Texas, for refusing to sign a loyalty oath to the United States Constitution. In 1966 he became president of a

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

chapter at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and helped recruit nearly 20% of the student body to join. One term later he dropped out, then emigrated to Canada to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.Anastasia Erland, "Faces of Conscience I: Mark Satin, Draft Dodger", '' Saturday Night'', September 1967, pp. 21–23. Cover story. Just before Satin left for Canada, his father told him he was trying to destroy himself. His mother told the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'' she could not condone her son's actions.Roger Neville Williams, ''The New Exiles: American War Resisters in Canada'', Liveright Publishers, 1971, pp. 62–65. . Satin says he arrived in Canada feeling bewildered and unsupported. According to press accounts, many Vietnam War resisters arrived feeling much the same way.

Neopacifism, 1960s

Toronto Anti-Draft Programme

As 1967 began, many American

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigne ...

and radicals did not look favorably on emigration to Canada as a means of resisting the

.Michael S. Foley, ''Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War'', University of North Carolina Press, 2003, p. 78. . For some this reflected a core conviction that effective war resistance requires self-sacrifice. For others it was a matter of strategy – emigration was said to be less useful than going to jailPierre Berton, '' 1967: The Last Good Year'', Doubleday Canada, 1997, pp. 198–203. . or deserting the military, or was said to abet the war by siphoning off the opposition. At first, Students for a Democratic Society and many

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

draft counselors opposed promoting the Canadian alternative, Jan Schreiber, "Canada's Haven for Draft Dodgers", ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follett ...

'', January 1968, pp. 34–36. and Canada's largest counseling group, the Anti-Draft Programme of the Student Union for Peace Action (SUPA)David S. Churchill,
An Ambiguous Welcome: Vietnam Draft Resistance, the Canadian State, and Cold War Containment
, ''Histoire Sociale / Social History'', vol. 37, no. 73 (2004), pp. 6–9. – whose board consisted largely of Quakers and radicals – was sympathetic to such calls for prudence.Mark Satin, "Afterword. Bringing Draft Dodgers to Canada in the 1960s: The Reality Behind the Romance", in Mark Satin, ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'', The A List / House of Anansi Press, 2017, pp. 127–29. . In January 1967 its spokesman warned an American audience that immigration was difficult and that the Programme was not willing to act as "baby sitters" for Americans after they arrived. He added that he was tired of talking to the press.John Maffre, "Draft Dodgers Conduct Own Anti-U.S. Underground War from Canadian Sanctuary", ''The Washington Post'', January 22, 1967, p. E1. Draft dodger counseling office

When Mark Satin was hired as director of the Programme in April 1967, he attempted to change its culture. He also tried to change the attitude of the war resistance movement toward emigration. His efforts continued after SUPA collapsed and he co-founded the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme, with largely the same board of directors, in October 1967.Joseph Jones, "The House of Anansi's Singular Bestseller", ''Canadian Notes & Queries'', issue no. 61, spring–summer 2002, pp. 19–21. Instead of praising self-sacrifice, he emphasized the importance of self-preservation and self-development to social change.Mark Satin, ed., ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'', House of Anansi Press, 2nd ed., 1968, Chap. 1. . . Retrieved December 13, 2013. Rather than sympathizing with pacifists' and radicals' strategic concerns, he rebutted them, telling ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that massive emigration of draft-age Americans could help end the war,Edward Cowan, "Expatriate Draft Evaders Prepare Manual on How to Immigrate to Canada", ''The New York Times'', February 11, 1968, p. 7. and telling another reporter that going to jail was bad public relations. Where the Programme once publicized the difficulties of immigration, Satin emphasized the competence of his draft counseling operation,

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

, "Deaf to the Draft: Called in US, but Asleep in Toronto", ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), October 11, 1967, pp. 1–2. A large head shot of Satin is on p. 1. and even told of giving cash to immigrants who were without funds. Instead of refusing to "baby sit" Americans after they arrived, Satin made post-emigration assistance a top priority. The office soon sported comfortable furniture, a hot plate, and free food; within a few months, 200 Torontonians had opened their homes to war resisters and a job-finding service had been established. Finally, rather than expressing indifference to reporters, Satin courted them, and many responded, beginning with a May 1967 article in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'' that included a large picture of Satin counseling Vietnam War resisters in the refurbished office.Oliver Clausen, "Boys Without a Country", ''The New York Times Magazine'', May 21, 1967, pp. 25 and 96–98. Some of the publicity focused on Satin as much as on his cause. According to historian

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...

, Satin was so visible that he became the unofficial spokesman for war resisters in Canada. Satin defined himself as a neopacifist or quasi-pacifist – flexible, media-savvy, and entrepreneurial. He told one journalist he might have fought against Hitler. He was not necessarily opposed to the draft, telling reporters he would support it for a defensive armyGary Dunford, "Toronto's Anti-Draft Office Jammed; Korea, New Viet Attacks Said Cause", ''Toronto Star'', February 3, 1968, p. 25. or to help eliminate poverty, illiteracy, and racial discrimination.

Earl McRae Earl McRae (May 3, 1942 – October 15, 2011) was a Canadian journalist who wrote a daily general interest column for the '' Ottawa Sun''. Early life Born Earl Gerald Piche in Toronto to Betty Piche, a homemaker, and Earl Piche, a soldier ...

, "US Draft Dodgers in Toronto: Safe – and Lonely", ''Toronto Star'', August 5, 1967, p. 8.Glenn McCurdy, "The American Draft Resisters in Canada", ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'', March 10, 1968, pp. F26, F70. He avoided the intellectual framework of traditional pacifism and socialism. Sometimes he spoke with emotion, as when he described the United States to ''The New York Times Magazine'' as " at godawful sick, foul country; could anything be worse?" Sometimes he spoke poetically, as when he told author

Jules Witcover Jules Joseph Witcover (born July 16, 1927) is an American journalist, author, and columnist. Biography Witcover is a veteran newspaperman of 50 years' standing, having written for ''The Baltimore Sun'', the now-defunct ''Washington Star'', the '' ...

, "It's colder here, but you feel warm because you know you're not trying to kill people." Instead of identifying with older pacifists, he identified with a 17-year-old character from the pen of

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...

: "I was

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...

", he said in 2008, "just standing and catching in the rye." The results of Satin's approach were noticeable: the Programme went from averaging fewer than three visitors, letters, and phone calls per day just before he arrived, to averaging 50 per day nine months later. In addition, the American anti-war movement became more accepting of emigration to Canada – for example, author

Myra MacPherson Myra MacPherson (born 1934) is an American author, biographer, and journalist known for writing about politics, the Vietnam War, feminism, and death and dying. Although her work has appeared in many publications, she had a long affiliation with ...

reports that Satin's ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'' could be obtained at every draft counseling office in the U.S. However, Satin's approach was distressing to the traditional pacifists and socialists on the Programme's board. The board clashed with Satin over at least 10 political, strategic, and performance issues. The most intractable may have been over the extent of the publicity. There were also concerns about Satin's personal issues; for example, one war resister claims to have heard him say, "Anonymity would kill me". In May 1968, the board finally fired him.Satin, "Afterword", pp. 134–35.

''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''

Before Satin was fired, he conceived and wrote, and edited guest chapters for, the ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'', published in January 1968 by the House of Anansi Press in partnership with the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme. The Programme had issued brochures on emigration before – including a 12-page version under Satin's watch – but the ''Manual'' was different, a comprehensive, 45,000-word book, and it quickly turned into an "underground bestseller".

, ''Long Time Passing: Vietnam and the Haunted Generation'', Doubleday and Company, 1984, p. 357. . Many years later, Toronto newspapers reported that nearly 100,000 copies of the ''Manual'' had been sold.James Adams,
'The Big Guys Keep Being Surprised By Us'
, ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), October 20, 2007, p. R6. Retrieved December 7, 2012.Patricia Hluchy,
1968 Was a Tumultuous Year of Protest in Cities Around the World
, ''Toronto Star'', June 1, 2008, p. 6. Retrieved September 14, 2011. One journalist calls it the "first entirely Canadian-published bestseller in the United States".Williams, ''New Exiles'', pp. 66–67. The Programme was initially hesitant about producing the ''Manual'', which promised to draw even more war resisters and publicity to it. "The oarddidn't even want me to write it", Satin says. "I wrote it at night, in the SUPA office, three or four nights a week after counseling guys and gals 8 to 10 hours a day – pounded it out in several drafts over several months on SUPA's ancient Underwood typewriter." When it finally appeared, some leading periodicals helped put it on the map. For example, ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' called it "useful", and ''The New York Times'' said it contains advice about everything from how to qualify as an immigrant to jobs, housing, schools, politics, culture, and even the snow. After the war, sociologist John Hagan found that more than a third of young American emigrants to Canada had read the ''Manual'' while still in the United States, and nearly another quarter obtained it after they arrived. The ''Manual'' reflected Satin's neopacifist politics. Commentators routinely characterized it as caustic, responsible, and supportive. The first part of the ''Manual'', on emigration, suggests that self-preservation is more important than sacrifice to a dubious cause. The second half, on Canada, spotlights opportunities for self-development and social innovation. According to Canadian social historian David Churchill, the ''Manual'' helped some Canadians begin to see Toronto as socially inclusive, politically progressive, and counter-cultural. Inevitably, the ''Manual'' became a lightning rod for controversy. Some observers took issue with its perspective on Canada;Gary Dunford, "'Forgettable' Toronto – Where There's NO Draft", ''Toronto Star'', February 14, 1968, pp. 1, 4. most notably, ''The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature'' criticizes its "condescending tone" in describing Canada's resources. Elements in the U.S. and Canadian governments may have been upset by the ''Manual''. According to journalist

Lynn Coady Lynn Coady (born January 24, 1970)Lynn Coady
at

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP) attempted to wiretap the House of Anansi Press's offices.Lynn Coady, "Introduction", in Lynn Coady, ed., ''The Anansi Reader: Forty Years of Very Good Books'', House of Anansi Press, 2007, p. 5. . In addition, Anansi co-founder Dave Godfrey is convinced a 10-day government audit of the press was generated by FBI–RCMP concerns. Many people did not want the Programme to encourage draft-eligible Americans to emigrate to Canada, and Satin routinely denied that the ''Manual'' encouraged emigration. But few observers believed him, then or later. The first sentence of an article in ''The New York Times'' from 1968 describes the ''Manual'' as "a major bid to encourage Americans to evade military conscription". Canadian essayist Robert Fulford remembers the ''Manual'' as offering an enthusiastic welcome to draft dodgers.Robert Fulford,
1968 – The Bogus Revolution
, ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' (Toronto), March 29, 2008, p. 27. Retrieved April 17, 2011. Even a House of Anansi Press anthology from 2007 concedes that the ''Manual'' is "coyly titled". Satin was fired from the Programme soon after the appearance of the second edition of the ''Manual'', which had a print run of 20,000. His name was removed from the title page of most subsequent editions. According to a study of the ''Manual'' by critic Joseph Jones in ''

Canadian Notes & Queries ''Canadian Notes & Queries'' is a literary magazine published in Canada on a triannual basis. History and profile The magazine was first published in 1968 by William Morley as a four-page supplement to the ''Abacus'', the newsletter of the Antiqua ...

'', a literary journal, some later editions experienced a falloff in quality. Nevertheless, Jones says the ''Manual'' stands as an icon of its age. It made significant appearances in at least five 20th-century novels, including

John Irving John Winslow Irving (born John Wallace Blunt Jr.; March 2, 1942) is an American-Canadian novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Irving achieved critical and popular acclaim after the international success of ''The World According to G ...

's ''A Prayer for Owen Meany'', and it continues to be pored over by journalists, historians, social scientists, creative writers,

social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...

strategists,Luke Stewart,
Review Essay: Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada
, ''Études canadiennes / Canadian Studies'', no. 85, December 2018, pp. 219–223. Published in French and English by Association Française d'Études Canadiennes, Institut des Amériques, France. Retrieved May 20, 2019. and graduate students. In 2017 the ''Manual'' was re-issued as a Canadian "classic" by the original publisher, with an introduction by Canadian historian

James Laxer James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

and a politically charged afterword by Satin, then in his 70th year.

Roy MacSkimming Roy MacSkimming is a Canadian novelist, non-fiction writer and cultural policy consultant. Born in Ottawa, Ontario and educated at the University of Toronto, MacSkimming broke into book publishing in 1964 at Clarke, Irwin & Company, Clarke, Irw ...

,
Review: Mark Satin's Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada Is Just as Timely as Ever
, ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), August 26, 2017, p. R12. Online dated one day earlier. Retrieved August 28, 2017.

''Confessions of a Young Exile''

Until the 1990s, literary critic

William Zinsser William Knowlton Zinsser (October 7, 1922 – May 12, 2015) was an American writer, editor, literary critic, and teacher. He began his career as a journalist for the '' New York Herald Tribune'', where he worked as a feature writer, drama edito ...

says,

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

writers tended to conceal their most personal and embarrassing memories. In the 1970s Satin wrote a book revealing many such memories as a neopacifist activist during the years 1964–66, ''Confessions of a Young Exile'', published by Gage, a Toronto publishing house soon to merge with Macmillan of Canada. ''Confessions'' is "a remarkable exercise in self-exposure", playwright John Lazarus says in a review. "The insights into the hero's motives and fears are so honest, and so mortifyingly true, that it soon becomes evident that the aivetone is deliberate." To some reviewers, Satin appears to have had a political goal – encouraging activists to establish common ground with ordinary North Americans on the basis of their shared confusion and humanity. For example, Jackie Hooper, writing in ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'', argues that the purity of motives projected by many pacifist activists is unconvincing, and recommends Satin's more complex view: "Satin's emigration wasn't dictated totally by his idealism. More often than not, he talked himself into radical positions ... as a result of trying to impress his peers or his girlfriend, or rebelling against middle-class parental authority".

, book editor of the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', says Satin portrayed himself as "idealistic" but also troubled and uncertain, wanting to fit in yet also longing to be unique.Roy MacSkimming, "A Young Exile's Novel: Anxious, Guilt-Ridden", ''Toronto Star'', June 11, 1976, p. E8. Some reviewers were unenthusiastic. For example, Dennis Duffy, writing in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', describes Satin's memoir as a "story about a young man who doesn't grow up". In addition, Satin's publisher began having reservations about him. Many years later, the ''Toronto Star'' reported that the publisher decided not to let Satin do any publicity for the book, because of his potentially offensive views. In the 21st century, ''Confessions'' was discussed at length by literary critics Rachel Adams in the ''

Yale Journal of Criticism The ''Yale Journal of Criticism'' was an academic journal published by the Johns Hopkins University Press which covered all humanities disciplines. It was named best new journal by the Conference of Editors of Learned Journals in 1989 and ceased ...

''Rachel Adams,
'Going to Canada': The Politics and Poetics of Northern Exodus
, ''Yale Journal of Criticism'', vol. 18, no. 2 (fall 2005), pp. 417–24. Reproduced at the

Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...

digital database. Retrieved September 7, 2017. and Robert McGill in his book ''War Is Here''.Robert McGill, ''War Is Here: The Vietnam War and Canadian Literature'', McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017, pp. 172–74, 177–81. . Both had been drawn to Satin's text because of their interest in the figure of the "draft dodger" in literature, and both depict Satin's journey from Moorhead to Canada as politically complex and sexually charged.

New Age politics, 1970s – 1980s

''New Age Politics'', the book

As the 1970s began, the New Left faded away, and many movements arose in its wake – among them the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

men's liberation The men's liberation movement is a social movement critical of the restraints which society imposes on men. Men's liberation activists were generally sympathetic to feminist standpoints. The men's liberation movement is not to be confused with ...

, spiritual,

human potential Human potential is the capacity for humans to improvement, improve themselves through studying, training, and Practice (learning method), practice, to reach the limit of their ability to develop aptitudes and skills. "Inherent within the notion of h ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

appropriate technology Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and locally ...

intentional community An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

, and

holistic health Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

movements.Marilyn Ferguson, ''The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in the 1980s'', Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc., 1980, Chaps. 7–11. . After graduating from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

in 1972, Satin immersed himself in all these movements, either directly or as a reporter for Canada's underground press. He also took up residence in a free-love commune. "One fierce winter's day", he says, "... it dawned on me that the ideas and energies from the various 'fringe' movements erebeginning to generate a coherent new politics. But I looked in vain for the people and groups that were expressing that new politics (instead of merely bits and pieces of it)". Satin set out to write a book that would express the new politics in all its dimensions. He wrote, designed, typeset, and printed the first edition of ''New Age Politics'' himself, in 1976.David Armstrong, ''A Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America'', Jeremy P. Tarcher Inc. / South End Press, 1981, pp. 315–16. . A 240-page edition was published by Vancouver's Whitecap Books in 1978, and a 349-page edition by Dell Publishing Company in New York in 1979. It is now widely regarded as the "first",

Harvey Wasserman Harvey Franklin Wasserman (born December 31, 1945) is an American journalist, author, democracy activist, and advocate for renewable energy. He has been a strategist and organizer in the anti-nuclear movement in the United States for over 30 years ...

, "The Politics of Transcendence", ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', August 11, 1985, pp. 146–47. "most ambitious",Carl Boggs, ''The End of Politics: Corporate Power and the Decline of the Public Sphere'', Guilford Press, 2000, p. 170. . or "most adequate" Andrew Ross, "New Age Technoculture", in

Lawrence Grossberg Lawrence Grossberg (born December 3, 1947) is an American scholar of cultural studies and popular culture whose work focuses primarily on popular music and the politics of youth in the United States. He is widely known for his research in the phil ...

Cary Nelson Cary Nelson (1946), is an American professor emeritus of English and Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was president of the American Association of University Professors between 2 ...

, and Paula A. Treichler, eds., ''Cultural Studies'', Routledge, 1991, p. 548. . attempt to offer a systemic overview of the new post-socialist politics arising in the wake of the New Left. Some academics say it offers a new ideology.Andrew Jamison, ''The Making of Green Knowledge: Environmental Politics and Cultural Transformation'', Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 5. . Carl Ransom Rogers

At the heart of ''New Age Politics'' is a critique of the consciousness we all supposedly share, a "six-sided prison" that has kept us all trapped for hundreds of years. The six sides of the "prison" are said to be: patriarchal attitudes, egocentricity, scientific single vision, the bureaucratic mentality, nationalism (xenophobia), and the "big city outlook" (fear of nature). Since consciousness, according to Satin, ultimately determines our institutions, prison consciousness is said to be ultimately responsible for "monolithic" institutions that offer us little in the way of freedom of choice or connection with others. Some representative monolithic institutions are: bureaucratic government, automobile-centered transportation systems, attorney-centered law, doctor-centered health care, and church-centered spirituality.This paragraph combines material from the following sources: * Cloud, "Socialism of the Mind", pp. 231–40. * Michael S. Cummings, "Mind Over Matter in the Prison", ''Alternative Futures'', vol. 4, no. 1 (1981), pp. 158–66. * Richard G. Kyle, "The Political Ideas of the New Age Movement", ''Journal of Church and State'', vol. 37, no. 4 (1995), pp. 831–48. To explain how to break free of the prison and its institutions, Satin develops a "psychocultural" class analysis that reveals the existence of "life-", "thing-", and "death-oriented" classes. According to Satin, life-oriented individuals constitute an emerging "third force" in post-industrial nations. The third force is generating a "prison-free" consciousness consisting of

androgynous Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics i ...

attitudes, spirituality, multiple perspectives, a cooperative mentality, local-and-global identities, and an ecological outlook. To transform prison society, Satin argues, the third force is going to have to launch an "evolutionary movement" to replace – or at least supplement – monolithic institutions with life-affirming, "biolithic" ones. Some representative biolithic institutions are:

deliberative democracy Deliberative democracy or discursive democracy is a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. It adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule. Deliberative democracy differs from traditional ...

as an alternative to bureaucratic government, bicycles and mass transit as an alternative to the private automobile, and mediation as an alternative to attorney-centered law. According to Satin, the third force will not have to overthrow capitalism, since Western civilization – not capitalism – is said to be responsible for the prison. But the third force will want to foster a prison-free New Age capitalism through intelligent regulation and elimination of all subsidies. The reaction to ''New Age Politics'' was, and continues to be, highly polarized. Many of the movements Satin drew upon to construct his synthesis received it favorably, though some took exception to the title.Sy Safransky, "Mark Satin, New Age Politics", '' The Sun'', April 1981, p. 2. Some maverick liberals and

libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and Minarchism, minimize the ...

are drawn to the book.Robert Nielsen, "A Slightly Flawed Blueprint for a Whole New Society", ''Toronto Star'', January 26, 1977, p. B4. Editorial page.John McClaughry, "What's This New Age Stuff?", ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'', August 1980, pp. 46–47. Retrieved March 25, 2014. It was eventually published in Sweden and Germany, and European New Age political thinkers came to see it as a precursor of their own work. Others see it as proto-Green. Ever since its first appearance, though, and continuing into the 21st century, ''New Age Politics'' has been a target of criticism for two groups in the United States: conservative Christians and left-wing intellectuals. Among conservative Christians, there are cultural, political, and moral objections. Attorney

Constance Cumbey Constance Cumbey (born February 29, 1944) is an American lawyer and activist Christian author. Views Cumbey offered the first major criticism of the New Age movement from a Christian perspective in ''The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New ...

warns that the book can be "seductive" to those who lack an adequate Biblical education. Theologians

Tim LaHaye Timothy Francis LaHaye (April 27, 1926 – July 25, 2016) was an American Baptist evangelical Christian Minister of religion, minister who wrote more than 85 books, both fiction and non-fiction, including the ''Left Behind (series), Left Behind ...

and Ron Rhodes are convinced Satin wants a centralized and coercive world government. Moral philosopher

Douglas Groothuis Douglas R. Groothuis ( ; born January 3, 1957) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary. Groothuis was a campus pastor for twelve years prior to obtaining a position as an associate professor of philosophy of religion and ethics at Denver S ...

says Satin's vision is unsound because it lacks an absolute standard of good and evil. Among left-leaning academics, criticism focuses on Satin's theoretical underpinnings. Political scientist Michael Cummings takes issue with the idea that consciousness is ultimately determining.Cummings, "Mind Over Matter", pp. 161–64. Science-and-society professor David Hess rejects the idea that economic class analysis should give way to psychocultural class analysis. A lengthy, systemic critique of ''New Age Politics'', by communication studies professor Dana L. Cloud, accuses it of employing a "therapeutic rhetoric[] generated to console activists after the failure of post-1968 revolutionary movements and to legitimate participation in liberal politics".

Organizing the New World Alliance

After U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam War resisters in 1977, Satin began giving talks on ''New Age Politics'' in the United States. His first talk received a standing ovation, and he wept. Every talk seemed to lead to two or three more, and "the response at New Age gatherings, community events, fairs, bookstores, living rooms, and college campuses" kept Satin going for two years. By the second year he began laying the groundwork for the

, a national political organization based in Washington, D.C. "I went systematically to 24 cities and regions from coast to coast", he told the authors of the book ''Networking''.Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps, ''Networking: The First Report and Directory'', Doubleday, 1982, pp. 107–08. . "I stopped when I found 500 ccomplishedpeople who said they'd answer a questionnaire ... on what a New Age-oriented political organization should be like – what its politics should be, what its projects should be, and how its first directors should be chosen.". The New World Alliance convened its first "governing council" meeting in New York City in 1979. The 39-member council was chosen by the questionnaire-answerers themselves, out of 89 who volunteered to be on the ballot. Political scientist Arthur Stein describes the council as an eclectic collection of educators, feminists, businesspeople, futurists, think-tank fellows, and activists.Arthur Stein, ''Seeds of the Seventies: Values, Work, and Commitment in Post-Vietnam America'', University Press of New England, 1985, pp. 134–39. . One of the council's announced goals was to break down the division between left and right.Marilyn Saunders and Bob Olson,
The New World Alliance: Toward a Transformational Politics
", ''AHP Newsletter'', December 1980, pp. 14–16. A publication of the

Association for Humanistic Psychology The Association for Humanistic Psychology is a professional organization in the field of humanistic psychology, founded in 1963.Aanstoos, C. Serlin, I., & Greening, T. (2000). ''History of Division 32 (Humanistic Psychology) of the American Psychol ...

. Retrieved February 16, 2013. Another was to help facilitate a thorough transformation of society.Sara Parkin, ''Green Parties: An International Guide'', Heretic Books Ltd., 1989, p. 294. . Satin was named staff member of the Alliance. Expectations ran high among supporters of a post-liberal, post-Marxist politics, and the governing council did initiate several projects. For example, a series of "Political Awareness Seminars" attempted to help participants understand and learn to work with their political opponents. In addition, a "Transformation Platform" attempted to synthesize left- and right-wing approaches to dozens of public policy issues. But within three years the Alliance fell apart, unable to establish stable chapters in any major cities.Jerome Clark, "New Age Politics", in

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Ins ...

, Jerome Clark, and Aidan A. Kelly, ''New Age Encyclopedia'', Gale Research, Inc., 1990, pp. 323–25. . ISSN Retrieved September 28, 2011. Author

Jerome Clark Jerome Clark (born November 27, 1946)"Jerome Clark". ''Contemporary Authors Online''. June 12, 2002. Retrieved on April 11, 2012. is an American writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other paranormal subjects. He has appeared ...

suggests the cause was the Alliance's commitment to consensus-building in all its groups and projects; within months, he notes, one member was complaining that the Alliance had turned into a "diddler's cult". Another explanation focuses on the failure – or inability – of the hyper-democratic questionnaire process to select an appropriate governing council. Satin was devastated by the decline of the Alliance, and engaged in unhappy bouts of public criticism and self-criticism. "We would rather be good than do good", he told editor Kevin Kelly. "We would rather be pure than mature. We are the Beautiful Losers." As time went on, though, the Alliance came to be regarded positively by many observers. For example, author

Corinne McLaughlin Corinne McLaughlin (1947 - 2018) was an American author and educator. She was executive director of The Center for Visionary Leadership and a Fellow of The World Business Academy and the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. McLaughlin and her partner ...

sees it as one of the first groups to offer an agenda for the new transformational politics. In an academic text, political scientist Stephen Woolpert acknowledges it as a precursor of North American Green parties.

''New Options Newsletter''

After four or five New World Alliance governing council meetings, Satin became tired of what he saw as empty rhetoric, and decided to do something practical – start a political newsletter. He raised $91,000 to launch the venture, from 517 people he had met on his travels, and within a few years had built it into what think-tank scholar

George Weigel George Weigel (born 1951) is a Catholic neoconservative American author, political analyst, and social activist. He currently serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Weigel was the Founding President of the ...

described as "one of the hottest political newsletters in Washington D.C. ... thas gotten a fair amount of ationalattention, and perhaps even some influence, because it self-consciously styles itself 'post-liberal'."George Weigel, "No Options", ''American Purpose'', vol. 3, no. 3 (1989), pp. 21–22. Satin published 75 issues of ''New Options'' from 1984 to 1992, virtually half a million words. He wrote nearly all the articles. In 1989 ''New Options'' received ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

s first "Alternative Press Award for General Excellence: Best Publication from 10,000 to 30,000 Circulation".The Editors, "The Alternative Press Awards", ''

'', issue no. 35, September–October 1989, pp. 90–91. In 1990 ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' identified ''New Options'' as one of 10 periodicals spearheading "The Ideology Shuffle". Twenty-five of its articles were published as a book by a university press.Mark Satin, ''New Options for America: The Second American Experiment Has Begun'', The Press at California State University / Southern Illinois University Press, 1991. . Jane Jacobs 2004

Satin wanted ''New Options'' to make the visionary perspective of ''New Age Politics'' seem pragmatic and realizable.Annie Gottlieb, ''Do You Believe in Magic?: Bringing the 60s Back Home'', Simon & Schuster, 1987, pp. 153–54. . He also wanted ''New Options'' to spread the New Age political ideology more effectively than the New World Alliance had done. To those ends, he challenged traditional views across the political spectrum,Helen Cordes, "New Options: Requiem Eterna", ''Utne Reader'', issue no. 51, May–June 1992, p. 46. and he expanded the scope of politics to include subjects like love and relationships. In her book ''Do You Believe in Magic?'', culture critic Annie Gottlieb says ''New Options'' offered:

an explosive short course in political possibility. ... What are the best books and groups in the consumer empowerment (not "protection") and neighborhood self-reliance movements? Who is working on practical, compassionate, populist alternatives to the welfare state and the big-business state? What is the best way to cut the budget deficit? What can we learn from the Sri Lankan Sarvodaya (local self-help) and Polish Solidarity movements? Each issue presents ideas, names and addresses, and a crossfire of reader debate.

"I think the reason ''New Options'' works is it has a particular tone", Satin told one reporter. "It's as idealistic as many of us were in the 1960s, but ... without the childishness". ''New Options'' owed its rise to more than just content and tone, however. Positioning was also a factor. The New Age political movement was cresting in the 1980s, and it needed a political periodical. Satin's book ''New Age Politics'' had helped define the movement, and the ''New Options'' advisory board – a collection of prominent post-liberal thinkers – gave the newsletter further credibility. At the outset it included

Lester R. Brown Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is an American environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and former president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BB ...

Ernest Callenbach Ernest Callenbach (April 3, 1929 – April 16, 2012) was an American author, film critic, editor, and simple living adherent. He became famous due to his internationally successful semi-utopian novel ''Ecotopia'' (1975). Life and work Born i ...

Fritjof Capra Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American physicist, systems theorist and deep ecologist. In 1995, he became a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. He is on the faculty of Schumacher ...

Vincent Harding Vincent Gordon Harding (July 25, 1931 – May 19, 2014) was an African-American pastor, historian, and scholar of various topics with a focus on American religion and society. A social activist, he was perhaps best known for his work with and wri ...

Willis Harman Willis W. Harman (August 16, 1918 – January 30, 1997) was an American engineer, futurist, and author associated with the human potential movement. He was convinced that late industrial civilization faced a period of major cultural crisis which ...

Hazel Henderson Jean Hazel Henderson ( Mustard; 27 March 1933 – 22 May 2022) was a British American futurist and environmental activist. She authored several books including ''Building a Win-Win World'', ''Beyond Globalization'', ''Planetary Citizenship'' (w ...

Petra Kelly Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German Green politician and ecofeminist activist. She was a founding member of the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and wor ...

Amory Lovins Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947) is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman/chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written on energy policy and related areas for four decades, and served on the US Nationa ...

Joanna Macy Joanna Rogers Macy (born May 2, 1929) is an environmental activist, author, and scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology. She is the author of twelve books. She was married to the late Francis Underhill Macy, the activist ...

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key radical feminist member of the American Women's Movement, and a leader in the ...

John Naisbitt John Naisbitt (January 15, 1929 – April 8, 2021) was an American author and public speaker in the area of futures studies. His first book '' Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives'' was published in 1982. It was the result of alm ...

Jeremy Rifkin Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin is the author of 23 books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, ...

Carl Rogers Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of ps ...

, Theodore Roszak,

Kirkpatrick Sale Kirkpatrick Sale (born June 27, 1937) is an American author who has written prolifically about political decentralism, environmentalism, luddism and technology. He has been described as having a "philosophy unified by decentralism" and as being " ...

Charlene Spretnak Charlene Spretnak (born January 30, 1946) is an American author who has written nine books on cultural history, social criticism (including feminism and Green politics), religion and spirituality, and art. Biography Spretnak was born in Pittsb ...

, and Robert Theobald, and over the years it added such figures as

Herman Daly Herman Edward Daly (July 21, 1938 – October 28, 2022) was an American ecological and Georgist economist and professor at the School of Public Policy of University of Maryland, College Park in the United States, best known for his time as a s ...

Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...

Winona LaDuke Winona LaDuke (born August 18, 1959) is an American economist, environmentalist, writer and industrial hemp grower, known for her work on tribal land claims and preservation, as well as sustainable development. In 1996 and 2000, she ran for Vice ...

, and

Robert Rodale Robert David Rodale (March 27, 1930 – September 20, 1990) was an American publisher who was president and chief executive officer of Rodale, Inc., a company founded in 1930 by his father J. I. Rodale in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Rodale was an adh ...

.Masthead, ''New Options Newsletter'', issue no. 50, July 1988, p. 2. ''New Options'' did not succeed in all quarters.

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...

, for example, often seen as being on the liberal-left, called it "irritating" and "neo-yuppie".

Jason McQuinn ''Alternative Press Review'' (byline: "Your guide beyond the mainstream") is a libertarian American magazine established in 1993 as a sister periodical to '' Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed''. The first issue was published in Fall 1993. As o ...

, often seen as a radical, objected to what he perceived as its relentless American optimism.

, often seen as a conservative, said it consisted largely of a cleverly repackaged leftism. Satin himself turned out to be one of the newsletter's critics. "I could have edited ''New Options'' forever", he wrote in 2004. "But, increasingly, I was becoming dissatisfied with my hyper-idealistic politics". His experiences in the U.S. Green politics movement contributed to that dissatisfaction.

"Ten Key Values" of the U.S. Green Party

By the mid-1980s, Green parties were making inroads all over the world. A slogan of the West German Greens was, "We are neither left nor right; we are in front".Greta Gaard, ''Ecological Politics: Ecofeminists and the Greens'', Temple University Press, 1998, pp. 142–45. . Some observers, notably

British Green Party The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985 it was called the Ecology Party, and before that PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three political parties: * the Green Part ...

liaison

Sara Parkin Sara Parkin (born 9 April 1946) is a Scottish nurse and political activist. She started her working life as a nurse in Edinburgh but rose to prominence as a green political activist during and after the 1989 European Parliament election, in whi ...

, saw the New World Alliance and ''New Options Newsletter'' as Green entities. Others saw the early Greens as one expression of New Age politics. In 1984, Satin was invited to the founding meeting of the U.S. Green politics movement, and he became a founding member. The meeting chose him, along with political theorist

, to draft its foundational political statement, "Ten Key Values".Mark Satin,
Miraculous Birth of the 'Ten Key Values' Statement
, ''Green Horizon Magazine'', vol. 9, issue no. 26, fall–winter 2012, pp. 19–22. Reproduced on the ''Radical Middle'' website with an altered title. Retrieved October 23, 2012. Some accounts recognize futurist and activist Eleanor LeCain as a co-equal drafter.Charlene Spretnak, "The Early Years of the Green Movement in the United States", in Zelko and Brinkmann, eds., ''Green Parties'', cited above, p. 48. The drafters drew on suggestions recorded on a flip chart during a marathon plenary brainstorming session, as well as on suggestions received by Satin and Spretnak during the meeting and for many weeks afterward. The original "Ten Key Values" statement was approved by the Greens' national steering committee and released in late 1984. The values in the original statement are: Ecological Wisdom, Grassroots Democracy, Personal and Social Responsibility, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Community-based Economics, Postpatriarchal Values, Respect for Diversity, Global Responsibility, and Future Focus. One unusual aspect, say many observers, is the way the values are described; instead of declaratory statements full of "shoulds" and "musts", each value is followed by a series of open-ended questions.Daniel A. Coleman, ''Ecopolitics: Building a Green Society'', Rutgers University Press, 1994, pp. 98–99. .Paul Lichterman, ''The Search for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment'', Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 37–38. . "That idea ... came from Mark Satin", Spretnak told scholar

Greta Gaard Greta Gaard is an ecofeminist writer, scholar, activist, and documentary filmmaker. Gaard's academic work in the realms of ecocriticism and ecocomposition is widely cited by scholars in the disciplines of composition and literary criticism. Her th ...

in 1997. Its effect, says sociologist Paul Lichterman, was to promote dialogue and creative thinking in local Green groups across the U.S. The original values statement was, and remains, controversial. U.S. Green Party co-founder

John Rensenbrink John C. Rensenbrink (August 30, 1928 – July 30, 2022) was an American political scientist, philosopher, journalist, conservationist, and political activist. He has initiated and helped found many organizations, the most prominent of which ar ...

credits it with helping to unify the often contentious Greens. However, party co-founder

Howie Hawkins } Howard Gresham Hawkins III (born December 8, 1952) is an American trade unionist, environmental activist, and perennial candidate from New York. A co-founder of the Green Party of the United States, Hawkins was the party's presidential nominee ...

sees it as just a watered-down, "spiritual", and "New Age" version of the German Greens' Four Pillars statement. Greta Gaard says it fails to call for the elimination of capitalism or racism. Looking back after 20 years, Green activist Brian Tokar said that "the voice of the original aluesquestions is distinctly personal ... and aims to avoid fundamental conflicts with elite social and cultural norms." A "modified" list of the Ten Key Values became part of the U.S. Greens' political platform.Green Party of the United States, "Green Party Platform: Green Key Values," in Kenneth M. Dolbeare and Michael S. Cummings, eds., ''American Political Thought'', CQ Press, 5th ed., 2004, pp. 544–45. . However, all the open-ended questions were replaced by declaratory sentences, and the U.S. Greens have come to be regarded as a party of the left, rather than one seeking to be neither left nor right. Satin himself became increasingly critical of the Greens. He gave a featured speech at the U.S. Green gathering in 1987 urging them to avoid hyper-detailed platform writing and other projects and specialize in one thing – running people for office who endorse the Ten Key Values. But the speech failed to persuade. After the Green gathering in 1989, he urged them to abandon hippie-era fears of money, authority, and leadership. After the 1990 gathering he complained "I've been Pure before,"Gaard, ''Ecological Politics'', pp. 70–71. an allusion to his time in the New World Alliance. According to Greta Gaard, he then bid farewell to the Greens, but recognized it as a loss: "Whatever I may think of their internal battles and political prospects, the Greens are My People. Their life choices are my life choices; their failings mirror my own." Within a year of voicing those words, he stopped ''New Options Newsletter'' and applied to law school.

Radical centrist politics, 1990s – 2000s

''Radical Middle Newsletter''

The 1990s are remembered, by many in the West, as a time of relative prosperity and satisfaction. According to some historians, visionary politics appeared to be on the decline. However, even after Satin entered

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1992, he expressed no desire to abandon his project of helping to construct a post-liberal, post-Marxist ideology. He did admit to being disillusioned with his approach. "I knew my views (and I personally) would benefit from engagement with the real world of commerce and professional ambition", he wrote.Satin, ''Radical Middle'', pp. 29–30. Vietnamese KFC

After graduating in 1995, Satin worked for a Manhattan law firm focusing on complex business litigation. He also wrote about financial and legal issues. He did not dislike his work, but felt he was "sleepwalking" because he was not doing what he loved, writing about visionary politics. With six former law school classmates, he began planning a political newsletter that could accommodate all he was learning about business and law. In 1998 he returned to Washington, D.C., to launch ''Radical Middle Newsletter''. As the title indicates, it sought to distance itself from New Age politics. If the term "New Age" suggests utopianism, the term "radical middle" suggests, for Satin and others, keeping at least one foot firmly on the ground. Satin attempted to embrace the promise but also the balance implied by the term.Walter Truett Anderson, ''All Connected Now: Life in the First Global Civilization'', Westview Press / Perseus Books Group, 2001, pp. 177–78. . One feature story is entitled "Tough on Terrorism, and Tough on the Causes of Terrorism". Another feature story attempts to go beyond polarized positions on biotechnology. Another argues that corporate activity abroad can best be seen as neither inherently moral nor inherently imperialistic, but as a "chance for mutual learning". The board of advisors of ''Radical Middle Newsletter'' signaled Satin's new direction. It was politically diverse, and many of its members sought to promote dialogue or collaboration across ideological divides. By the end of 2004 it included

John Avlon John Phillips Avlon (born January 19, 1973) is an American journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN and was the editor-in-chief and managing director of ''The Daily Beast'' from 2013 to 2018. Avlon ...

Don Edward Beck Don Edward Beck (January 1, 1937 - May 24, 2022) was a teacher, geopolitical advisor, and theorist focusing on applications of large scale psychology, including social psychology, evolutionary psychology, organizational psychology and their effec ...

, Jerry H. Bentley,

Esther Dyson Esther Dyson (born 14 July 1951) is a Swiss-born American investor, journalist, author, commentator and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing. Dyson is also an ang ...

, Mark P. Painter, Shelley Alpern of the Social Investment Forum,

James Fallows James Mackenzie Fallows (born August 2, 1949) is an American writer and journalist. He is a former national correspondent for ''The Atlantic.'' His work has also appeared in ''Slate'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Book ...

of the

New America Foundation New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is a think tank in the United States founded in 1999. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security studies, technology, asset building, health, gender, energy, educa ...

Jane Mansbridge Jane Jebb Mansbridge (born November 19, 1939) is an American political scientist. She is the Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Mansbridge has made co ...

of the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

, John D. Marks and Susan Collin Marks of

Search for Common Ground Searching or search may refer to: Computing technology * Search algorithm, including keyword search ** :Search algorithms * Search and optimization for problem solving in artificial intelligence * Search engine technology, software for findi ...

, and

William Ury William Ury is an American author, academic, anthropologist, and negotiation expert. He co-founded the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Additionally, he helped found the International Negotiation Network with former President Jimmy Carter. Ury is ...

, co-author of ''

Getting to Yes ''Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In'' is a best-selling 1981 non-fiction book by Roger Fisher and William Ury. Subsequent editions in 1991 and 2011 added Bruce Patton as co-author. All of the authors were members of the Ha ...

''. ''Radical Middle Newsletter'' proved controversial. Many responded positively to Satin's new direction. A professor of management, for example, wrote that unlike Satin's former newsletter, ''Radical Middle'' spoke about "reality". Scholarly books began citing articles from the newsletter. In a book on globalization, Walter Truett Anderson said ''Radical Middle'' "carries the encouraging news of an emerging group with a different voice, one that is 'nuanced, hopeful, adult'. ... It is essentially a willingness to listen to both sides of the argument." But three objections were often heard. Some critics accused Satin of misguided policy proposals, as when peace studies scholar Michael N. Nagler wrote that the article "praising humanitarian military intervention as the 'peace movement' of our time, is nothing short of an insult ... to the ''real'' peace movement" mphasis in original Other critics accused Satin of abandoning his old constituency, as when author and former ''New Options'' advisor

David Korten David C. Korten (born 1937) is an American author, former professor of the Harvard Business School, political activist, prominent critic of corporate globalization, and "by training and inclination a student of psychology and behavioral systems". ...

chided him for consciously choosing pragmatism over idealism. There were also accusations of elitism, as when the executive editor of '' Yes!'' magazine said Satin favored globalization because it appealed to his interests and those of his "law school buddies". ''New Options Newsletter'' was based on the theories set forth in ''New Age Politics''. But Satin's approach to his radical middle project was eclectic and experimental.Leif Utne,
The Radical Middle
, ''Utne Reader'', issue no. 125, September–October 2004, p. 82. Retrieved April 17, 2011. His contribution to radical centrist political theory, the book ''Radical Middle'', was not published until 2004, the newsletter's sixth year. Until then, the only glimpse Satin gave of his larger vision appeared in an article he wrote for an academic journal.

''Radical Middle'', the book

Satin's book ''Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now'', published by Westview Press and Basic Books in 2004, attempts to present radical centrism as a political ideology.Robert Olson, "The Rise of 'Radical Middle' Politics", ''The Futurist'', January–February 2005, pp. 45–47. Magazine of the World Future Society. It is considered one of the two or three "most persuasive" or most representative books on the subject, and it received the "Best Book Award" for 2003 and 2004 from the Section on Ecological and Transformational Politics of the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...

.The Editors, "Organized Sections Distribute Awards at 2004 Annual Meeting", '' PS: Political Science & Politics'', vol. 37, no. 4 (2004), p. 923. A journal of the American Political Science Association. It also generated – like all of Satin's works – criticism and controversy. Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze

Satin presents ''Radical Middle'' as a revised and evolved version of his ''New Age Politics'' book, rather than as a rejection of it. Some observers had always seen him as a radical centrist. As early as 1980, author Marilyn Ferguson identified him as part of what she called the "Radical Center". In 1987, culture critic Annie Gottlieb said Satin was trying to prompt the New Age and New Left to evolve into a "New Center". But the revisions Satin introduces are substantial. Instead of defining politics as a means for creating the ideal society, as he did in ''New Age Politics'', he defines radical middle politics as "idealism without illusions" – more creative and future-oriented than politics-as-usual, but willing to face "the hard facts on the ground". Rather than arguing that change will be brought about by a third force, he says most Americans are already radical middle – "we're very practical folks, and we're very idealistic and visionary as well."Tony Cox, "Interview: Mark Satin Discusses the Radical Middle", printed transcript, National Public Radio: The Tavis Smiley Show, July 9, 2004, pp. 1–2. Although Satin argues in ''New Age Politics'' that Americans need to change their consciousness and decentralize their institutions, in ''Radical Middle'' he says they can build a good society if they adopt and live by Four Key Values: maximize choices for all Americans, give every American a fair start, maximize every American's human potential, and help the peoples of the developing world. Instead of finding those values in the writings of contemporary theorists, Satin says they are just new versions of the values that inspired 18th-century American revolutionaries: liberty, equality, pursuit-of-happiness, and fraternity, respectively. He calls

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

the radical middle's favorite Founding Father, and says Franklin "wanted us to invent a uniquely American politics that served ordinary people by creatively borrowing from all points of view."This paragraph combines material from the following sources: * Olson, "Rise of Radical Middle", pp. 45–47. * Michael Marien, "Radical Middle", ''Future Survey'', vol. 26, no. 4 (2004), p. 9. In ''New Age Politics'', Satin chooses not to focus on the details of public policy. In ''Radical Middle'', however, Satin develops a raft of policy proposals rooted in the Four Key Values. (Among them: universal access to private, preventive health insurance, class-based rather than race-based affirmative action, mandatory national service, and opening U.S. markets to more products from poor nations.) In ''New Age Politics'', Satin calls on "life-oriented" people to become radical activists for a New Age society. In ''Radical Middle'', Satin calls on people of every political stripe to work from within for social change congruent with the Four Key Values. Satin's mandatory national service proposal drew significant media coverage,Nancy Beardsley,
Independent Voters Put a New Face on US Politics
, Voice of America newswire, July 28, 2004, p. 3. Originally Voice of America radio broadcast, July 27, 2004. Reproduced on the Voice of America website, October 28, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2016. in part because of his status as a draft refuser.Burt Constable, "When It Comes to Death and War, There's No Dodging the Issues", '' Daily Herald'' (suburban Chicago), February 4, 2003, p. 9. Satin argues that a draft could work in the United States if it applied to all young people, without exception, and if it gave everyone a choice in how they would serve. He proposes three service options: military (with generous benefits), homeland security (at prevailing wages), and community care (at subsistence wages).Satin, ''Radical Middle'', Chap. 12. On

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

radio, Satin presented his proposal as one drawing equally from the best of the left and the right. On

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, he emphasized its fairness. ''Radical Middle'' provokes three kinds of responses: skeptical, pragmatic, and visionary. Skeptical respondents tend to find Satin's beyond-left-and-right policy proposals to be unrealistic and arrogant. For example, political writer Charles R. Morris says "Satin's nostrums" echo the "glibness and overweening self-confidence ... in Roosevelt's brain trust, or in John F. Kennedy's."Charles R. Morris,
What Works & What Doesn't
, ''Commonweal'', June 4, 2004, p. 25. Retrieved December 13, 2013. Similarly, the policy director of the

Democratic Leadership Council The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was founded in 1985 and closed in 2011. Founded and directed by Al From, prominent members include Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton (who was elected president in 1992 and 1996), Delaware Senator Joe Biden ( ...

says Satin's book "ultimately places him in the sturdy tradition of 'idealistic' American reformers who think smart and principled people unencumbered by political constraints can change everything."Ed Kilgore, "Good Government: Time to Stop Bashing the Two-Party System", ''The Washington Monthly'', June 2004, pp. 58–59. Pragmatic observers tend to applaud Satin's willingness to borrow good ideas from the left and the right. But these respondents are typically more drawn to Satin as a policy advocate – or as a counterweight to partisan

militants The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...

– than they are to him as a political theorist. For example, Robert Olson of the

World Future Society The World Future Society (WFS), founded in 1966, is an international community of futurists and future thinkers. History Prominent members and contributors have included Ray Kurzweil, Peter Drucker, Carl Sagan, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Leader ...

warns Satin against presenting the radical middle as a new ideology. Visionary respondents typically appreciate Satin's work as a policy advocate. But they also see him as attempting something rarer and, according to spiritual writer Carter Phipps, richer – raising politics to a higher level by synthesizing truths from all the political ideologies. Author

identifies Satin as one of those creating an ideology about ideologies. She quotes him:

Coming up with a solution is not a matter of adopting correct political beliefs. It is, rather, a matter of learning to listen – really, listen – to everyone in the circle of humanity, and to take their insights into account. For everyone has a true and unique perspective on the whole. anyyears ago the burning question was, How radical are you? Hopefully someday soon the question will be, How much can you synthesize? How much do you dare to take in?

Later life

Life changed for Satin after writing and publicizing his ''Radical Middle'' book. In 2006, at the age of 60, he moved from Washington, D.C., to the San Francisco Bay Area to reconcile with his father, from whom he had been estranged for 40 years. "With the perspective of time and experience," Satin told one reporter, "I can see

y father Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

was not altogether out to lunch." Later that year Satin discovered his only life partner. He describes it as "no accident".Mark Satin,
Your Editor Says Goodbye
, ''Radical Middle Newsletter'', June 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2011. In 2009 Satin revealed he was losing his eyesight as a result of

macular edema Macular edema occurs when fluid and protein deposits collect on or under the macula of the eye (a yellow central area of the retina) and causes it to thicken and swell ( edema). The swelling may distort a person's central vision, because the macu ...

and

diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease), is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes mellitus. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries. Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80 perc ...

. He stopped producing ''Radical Middle Newsletter'' but expressed a desire to write a final political book. From 2009 to 2011 he presented occasional guest lectures on "life and political ideologies" in peace studies classes at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. In 2015 he helped produce a "40th Anniversary Edition" of his book ''New Age Politics'',Rhoda Gilman,
New Age Politics: Our Only Real Alternative
, ''Green Horizon Magazine'', vol. 13, issue no. 33, spring–summer 2016, pp. 20, 34. Retrieved July 26, 2016. and in 2017 he helped produce a 50th anniversary edition of his ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''.

Assessment

Mark Satin has been a controversial public figure since the age of 20. Assessments of his significance vary widely. Mark Satin by Gary Faigin

Some observers see him as an exemplary figure. David Armstrong, for example, in his study of independent American journalism, presents Satin as an embodiment of the "do-it-yourself spirit" that makes an independent press possible. Futurists Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps portray Satin as a pioneer "networker" who spent two years riding the bus across the U.S. in an attempt to connect like-minded thinkers and activists.

, author of ''The Aquarian Conspiracy'', says that by engaging in a lifelong series of personal and political experiments with few resources, Satin is playing the role of the holy "

Fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

" for his time. Other observers stress the freshness of Satin's political vision. Social scientists Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson, for example, argue that Satin anticipated the perspectives of 21st century social movements better than nearly anyone.Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, ''

The Cultural Creatives ''The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World'' is a nonfiction social sciences and sociology book by sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson (born 1942), The authors introduced the term "Cultural ...

: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World'', Harmony Books / Random House, 2000, pp. 206–07. .

Humanistic psychologist Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the mid-20th century in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow established the need for a "third fo ...

John Amodeo says Satin is one of the few political theorists to grasp the connection between personal growth and constructive political change.John Amodeo, "The Six-Sided Prison", ''Yoga Journal'', November–December 1978, pp. 62–63. Ecofeminist

claims that Satin "played a significant role in facilitating the articulation of Green political thought". Policy analyst Michael Edwards sees Satin as a pioneering trans-partisan thinker.Michael Edwards,
How Can We Make Our Politics Reflect What's Best In Us and Not What's Worst?
,

openDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...

website, July 18, 2016, paragraphs #9–20. Retrieved July 26, 2016. Peace researcher

Hanna Newcombe Hanna Newcombe (February 5, 1922 – April 10, 2011) was the co-founder of Peace Research Abstracts and Peace Research Reviews, was the recipient of the 1997 Pearson Medal of Peace and was elected a member of the Order of Canada in 2007 for her wo ...

finds a spiritual dimension in Satin's politics. Political scientist Christa Slaton's short list of "nonacademic" transformationalists consists of Alvin and Heidi Toffler,

, Marilyn Ferguson,

Betty Friedan Betty Friedan ( February 4, 1921 – February 4, 2006) was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book ''The Feminine Mystique'' is often credited with sparking the se ...

, E. F. Schumacher,

, and Mark Satin. Some see Satin as a classic example of the perpetual rebel and trace the cause back to his early years. For example, author Roger Neville Williams focuses on the harshness and "paternalistic rectitude" of Satin's parents. Novelist

Dan Wakefield Dan Wakefield (born May 21, 1932) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His best-selling novels, ''Going All the Way'' (1970) and ''Starting Over'' (1973), were made into feature films. He wrote the screenplay for ''Going All th ...

, writing in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', says Satin grew up in a small city in northern Minnesota like Bob Dylan but did not have a guitar to express himself with.Dan Wakefield, "Supernation at Peace and War", ''The Atlantic'', March 1968, p. 42. According to historian

Frank Kusch Frank Kusch is a historian of American history, who writes on post-1945 political and cultural events. Kusch is the author of ''Battleground Chicago: the Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention'' (September, 2004) and ''All American B ...

, the seeds for rebellion were planted when Satin's parents moved him at age 16 from liberal Minnesota to still-segregated Texas. Although many observers praise or are intrigued by Satin, many find him dismaying. Memoirist George Fetherling, for example, remembers him as a publicity hound.George Fetherling, ''Travels By Night: A Memoir of the Sixties'', McArthur & Company Publishing, 2000, orig. 1994, p. 138. . Literary critic Dennis Duffy calls him incapable of learning from his experiences.Dennis Duffy, "Perhaps Somewhere a Turgenev Is Waiting", ''The Globe and Mail'' (Toronto), June 12, 1976, p. 34. Green Party activist

sees him as "virulently anti-left". The ''

Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alternat ...

'' portrayed him in his 50s as a former New Age "guru", and ''

Commonweal Commonweal or common weal may refer to: * Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community * Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group * Commonweal (magazine), ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Cath ...

'' compares reading him to listening to glass shards grate against a blackboard. Other observers see Satin as an emotionally wounded figure. For example, historian

calls him a "footloose wanderer" and says he hitchhiked across Canada 16 times. Culture critic Annie Gottlieb, who attributes Satin's wounds to his struggle against the Vietnam War, points out that even as a successful newsletter publisher in Washington, DC, he paid himself the salary of a monk. The major substantive criticisms of Satin's work have remained constant over time. His ideas are sometimes said to be superficial; they were characterized as childish in the 1960s, naive in the 1970s,Richard Labonte, "Business for Humanity in the New Age", ''Ottawa Citizen'', April 10, 1979, p. 32. poorly reasoned in the 1980s and 1990s, and overly simple in the 2000s. His ideas have also occasionally been seen as not politically serious, or as non-political in the sense of not being capable of challenging existing power structures.Jamison, ''Making of Green Knowledge'', p. 169. His work is sometimes said to be largely borrowed from others, a charge that first surfaced with regard to his draft dodger manual, and was repeated to varying degree by critics of his books on New Age politics and radical centrism. Satin has long been faulted for mixing views from different parts of his political odyssey. In the 1970s, for example, ''Toronto Star'' editor

Robert Nielsen Robert Fredsø Nielsen (1922–2009) was a Canadian journalist who is known for his time with the ''Toronto Star''. Nielsen was employed by the newspaper for 33 years and served in several capacities, including as a correspondent, foreign co ...

argued that Satin's leftist pacifism warps his New Age vision. Three decades later, public-policy analyst Gadi Dechter argued that Satin's New Age emotionalism and impracticality blunt his radical-centrist message.Gadi Dechter, "Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now", ''

Baltimore City Paper ''Baltimore City Paper'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper published in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1977 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch. The most recent owner was the Baltimore Sun Media Group, which purchased the paper in 2014 from Ti ...

'', February 25, 2004, p. 35. At 58, Satin suggested his message could not be understood without appreciating all the strands of his personal and political journey:

From my New Left years I took a love of political struggle. From my New Age years I took a conviction that politics needs to be about more than endless struggle – that responsible human beings need to search for reconciliation and healing and mutually acceptable solutions. From my time in the legal profession I took an understanding (and it is no small understanding) that sincerity and passion are not enough – that to be truly effective in the world one needs to be credible and expert. ... Many Americans are living complicated lives now – few of us have moved through life in a straight line. I think many of us would benefit from trying to gather and synthesize the difficult political lessons we've learned over the course of our lives.Satin, ''Radical Middle'', p. 30.

Publications

Books

* ''Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now'', Basic Books, 2004, orig. Westview Press, 2004. . Radical-centrist ideas presented as an integrated political ideology. * ''New Options for America: The Second American Experiment Has Begun'', foreword by

, The Press at California State University / Southern Illinois University Press, 1991. . Twenty-five cover stories from Satin's ''New Options Newsletter''. * ''New Age Politics: Healing Self and Society'', Delta Books / Dell Publishing Co., 1979. . New Age political ideas presented as an integrated political ideology. * ''Confessions of a Young Exile'', Gage Publishing Co. / Macmillan of Canada, 1976. . Memoir covering the years 1964–66. * ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada'', House of Anansi Press, 1968. . . Preserve oneself and change the world. Satin wrote Part One ("Applying") and solicited and edited the materials in Part Two ("Canada"). OCLC retrieved December 13, 2013.

Newsletters

*
Radical Middle Newsletter
', 120 issues, 1999–2009. . Originally hard-copy only, now largely online. Newsletter retrieved April 17, 2011, ISSN retrieved September 28, 2011. *

', 75 issues, 1984–1992. . Originally hard-copy only, now partially online. Newsletter retrieved October 18, 2014, ISSN retrieved September 28, 2011.

Selected articles and interviews

*
Godfrey and Me
,

House of Anansi Press House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anans ...

website, June 14, 2017. How Satin convinced Anansi to publish his ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''. Retrieved April 4, 2019. *
The New Age 40 Years Later
, ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', April 25, 2016. Interview by Rick Heller of the Humanist Community at Harvard. Retrieved July 16, 2016. *
The Three Committees
, Civil Rights Movement Archive website, "Movement Veterans" section, "Our Stories" sub-section, 2015. Website hosted by

Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was originally established in 1869 by New Yo ...

. Semi-autobiographical short story about being an estranged

volunteer in Mississippi in 1965. Retrieved December 30, 2016. *
Mark Satin on the Politics of the Radical Middle
,

audiotape, July 9, 2004. Interview by Tony Cox for ''

The Tavis Smiley Show ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' was an American public broadcasting radio talk show. Public Radio International ''The Tavis Smiley Show'' was broadcast on Public Radio International (PRI). It was a one-hour weekly program featuring interviews with new ...

''. Retrieved April 17, 2011. *
Where's the Juice?
, ''The Responsive Community'', vol. 12, no. 4 (2002), pp. 70–75. Critical review of

Ted Halstead Ted Halstead (July 25, 1968 – September 2, 2020) was an American author, policy entrepreneur, and public speaker who has founded four non-profit think tanks and advocacy organizations: the Climate Leadership Council, Americans for Carbon ...

and

Michael Lind Michael Lind (born April 23, 1962) is an American writer and academic. He has explained and defended the tradition of American democratic nationalism in a number of books, beginning with '' The Next American Nation'' (1995). He is currently a pro ...

's book ''The Radical Center''. Retrieved April 17, 2011 * "Law and Psychology: A Movement Whose Time Has Come", '' Annual Survey of American Law'', vol. 51, no. 4 (1994), pp. 583–631. Early argument for what is now called "

therapeutic jurisprudence Therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) studies law as a social force (or agent) which inevitably gives rise to unintended consequences, which may be either beneficial (therapeutic) or harmful (anti-therapeutic). These consequences flow from the operation ...

". * "20th Anniversary Rendezvous: Mark Satin", ''

Whole Earth Review ''Whole Earth Review'' (''Whole Earth'' after 1997) was a magazine which was founded in January 1985 after the merger of the '' Whole Earth Software Review'' (a supplement to the ''Whole Earth Software Catalog'') and the ''CoEvolution Quarterly ...

'', issue no. 61, winter 1988, p. 107. Interview by Kevin Kelly. * "Do-It-Yourself Government", ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'', April 1983, pp. 126–28. Early attempt to present New Age political ideas as pragmatic and centrist.

Notes

References

External links

Satin and neopacifism

Vietnam War Resisters in Canada
Essays, memoirs, and documents. Includes material on Satin's ''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''. Retrieved April 17, 2011.

History site. Includes excerpts from news articles about TADP, excerpts from letters to TADP, and an essay by Satin from 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
Civil Rights Movement Archive
Essays, "testimony," and documents. Satin's contribution is her

Retrieved April 17, 2011.
Mark Satin Papers
in th
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
at University of Toronto. Correspondence, documents, and other materials related to Satin's time at the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme and his subsequent activities in Canada, through 1978. Retrieved October 17, 2012.

Satin and New Age politics

History page. Includes media excerpts and links to brochure and "Transformation Platform". Retrieved April 30, 2014.
Context Institute: Introduction to ''In Context''
Satin was a founding advisor to editor Robert Gilman's ''In Context'' quarterly from 1983 to 1992. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
The Other Economic Summit
Satin was an advisor to the U.S. board of this U.K.-based activist group from 1987 to 1992. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
Green Party of California
Green politics with th
original Spretnak-Satin "Ten Key Values" statement
largely intact. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
New World Alliance and New Options: Correspondence Files, 1977–1992
in th
Contemporary Culture Collection
at Temple University Libraries. Includes over 4,000 letters to Satin's ''New Options Newsletter''. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
Mark Satin Papers, 1973–1992
in th
Joseph A. Labadie Collection
at Hatcher Library, University of Michigan. Correspondence, personal memoir, and other materials pertaining to ''New Age Politics'' and the New Age portion of Satin's life. Retrieved January 4, 2013.

Satin and radical centrism

Mark Satin's website
Features selected ''Radical Middle Newsletter'' articles from 1999 to 2009. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
The Future 500
Satin was a senior fellow here from 2010 to 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
We the People Declaration: A Call for Dialogue
Created by Satin and 21 politically diverse others (including

Tom Atlee Tom Atlee (born 1947) is an American social, peace and environmental activist and author. Personal life Born in an intellectual, activist family of Quakers, Atlee experienced social change from an early on. In 1968, he dropped out of Antioch Coll ...

Bob Barr Robert Laurence Barr Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is an American attorney and politician. He served as a federal prosecutor and as a United States House of Representatives, Congressman. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Re ...

, David Keene, and Joseph F. McCormick) in 2004. Reproduced on the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation website. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
John Vasconcellos obituary
Satin was a founding advisor to California politician

John Vasconcellos John Bernard Vasconcellos Jr. (May 11, 1932 – May 24, 2014) was an American politician from California and member of the Democratic Party. He represented Silicon Valley as a member of the California State Assembly for 30 years and a Californi ...

's "Politics of Trust Network" from 2002 to 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
Mark Satin Papers, 1993–2009
in th
Joseph A. Labadie Collection
at Hatcher Library, University of Michigan. Correspondence and documents, public and private, covering the "radical middle" portion of Satin's life. Retrieved January 4, 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Satin, Mark 1946 births Living people American alternative journalists American anti–Vietnam War activists American emigrants to Canada American legal writers American male journalists American memoirists American political philosophers American political writers California Greens Members of Students for a Democratic Society New Age writers New York University School of Law alumni Newsletter publishers (people) Nonviolence advocates People from Moorhead, Minnesota People from Wichita Falls, Texas Radical centrist writers Sustainability advocates University of British Columbia alumni Vietnam War draft evaders

Early years

Neopacifism, 1960s

Toronto Anti-Draft Programme

''Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada''

''Confessions of a Young Exile''

New Age politics, 1970s – 1980s

''New Age Politics'', the book

Organizing the New World Alliance

''New Options Newsletter''

"Ten Key Values" of the U.S. Green Party

Radical centrist politics, 1990s – 2000s

''Radical Middle Newsletter''

''Radical Middle'', the book

Later life

Assessment

Publications

Books

Newsletters

Selected articles and interviews

See also

Notes

References

External links

Satin and neopacifism

Satin and New Age politics

Satin and radical centrism