Mark Satin Mark Ivor Satin ( born November 16 , 1946 ) is an American political theorist , author , and newsletter publisher . Although often referred to as a " draft dodger " or " draft resister " , he is better 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 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 " , " post - liberal " , or " post - Marxist " . One historian calls Satin ' s writing " post - hip " . After emigrating to Canada at the age of 20 , Satin co - founded the Toronto Anti - Draft Programme , which helped bring American Vietnam 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 describes as Satin ' s " anti - ambition experiment " , Satin wrote " New Age Politics " ( 1978 ) , which identifies an emergent " third force " in North America pursuing such goals as simple living , decentralism , and global responsibility . Satin spread his ideas by co - founding an American political organization , the New World Alliance , and by publishing an award - winning international political newsletter , " New Options " . He also co - drafted the foundational statement of the U . S . Green Party , " Ten Key Values " . After a period of political disillusion , spent mainly in law school and practicing business law , Satin launched a new political newsletter and wrote an award - winning 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 " . Satin has been described as " colorful " and " intense " , 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 , and Wichita Falls , Texas . His father , who saw combat in World War II , was a college professor and author of a Cold War - era textbook on Western civilization . His mother was a homemaker . 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 to work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Holly Springs , Mississippi . Later that year , he was told to leave Midwestern State University , 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 chapter at the State University of New York at Binghamton , and helped induce 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 . Just before Satin left for Canada , his father told him he was trying to destroy himself . His mother told the " Ladies ' Home Journal " she could not condone her son ' s actions . 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 and radicals did not look favorably on emigration to Canada as a means of resisting the Vietnam War . 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 jail 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 draft counselors opposed promoting the Canadian alternative , and Canada ' s largest counseling group , the Anti - Draft Programme of the Student Union for Peace Action ( SUPA ) – whose board consisted largely of Quakers and radicals – was sympathetic to such calls for prudence . 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 . 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 . Instead of praising self - sacrifice , he emphasized the importance of self - preservation and self - development to social change . Rather than sympathizing with pacifists ' and radicals ' strategic concerns , he rebutted them , telling " The New York Times " that massive emigration of draft - age Americans could help end the war , 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 , 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 " that included a large picture of Satin counseling Vietnam War resisters in the refurbished office . Some of the publicity focused on Satin as much as on his cause . According to historian Pierre Berton , 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 army or to help eliminate poverty , illiteracy , and racial discrimination . 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 " [ t ] hat godawful sick , foul country ; could anything be worse ? " Sometimes he spoke poetically , as when he told author Jules Witcover , " 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 : " I was Holden Caulfield " , 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 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 . " 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 " . Many years later , Toronto newspapers reported that nearly 100 , 000 copies of the " Manual " had been sold . One journalist calls it the " first entirely Canadian - published bestseller in the United States " . The Programme was initially hesitant about producing the " Manual " , which promised to draw even more war resisters and publicity to it . " The [ board ] didn ' 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 " 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 ; 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 , the and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ( RCMP ) attempted to wiretap the House of Anansi Press ' s offices . 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 . 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 " , a literary journal , some later editions experienced a falloff in quality . Nevertheless , Jones says the " Manual " stands as an icon of its age . It has made significant appearances in at least five novels , including John Irving ' s " A Prayer for Owen Meany " , and it continues to be pored over by historians , social scientists , and graduate students . " Confessions of a Young Exile " . Until the 1990s , literary critic William Zinsser says , memoir writers tended to conceal their most personal and embarrassing memories . In the 1970s Satin wrote a memoir 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 [ naive ] tone 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 " , 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 " . Some reviewers were unenthusiastic . For example , Dennis Duffy , writing in " The Globe and Mail " , 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 . 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 , men ' s liberation , spiritual , human potential , ecology , appropriate technology , intentional community , and holistic health movements . After graduating from the University of British Columbia 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 [ were ] beginning 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 . 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 " , " most ambitious " , or " most adequate " 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 . 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 . 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 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 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 . Some maverick liberals and libertarians are drawn to the book . 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 E . Cumbey warns that the book can be " seductive " to those who lack an adequate Biblical education . Theologians Tim LaHaye and Ron Rhodes are convinced Satin wants a centralized and coercive world government . Moral philosopher Douglas Groothuis 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 . 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 political scientist Dana 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 " . 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 New World Alliance , 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 " . " I stopped when I found 500 [ accomplished ] people 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 . One of the council ' s announced goals was to break down the division between left and right . Another was to help facilitate a thorough transformation of society . 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 . Author Jerome Clark 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 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 described as " one of the hottest political newsletters in Washington [ , D . C . ] . . . . [ It ] has gotten a fair amount of [ national ] attention , and perhaps even some influence , because it self - consciously styles itself ' post - liberal ' . " 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 " ' s first " Alternative Press Award for General Excellence : Best Publication from 10 , 000 to 30 , 000 Circulation " . In 1990 " The Washington Post " 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 . Satin wanted " New Options " to make the visionary perspective of " New Age Politics " seem pragmatic and realizable . 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 , 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 , Ernest Callenbach , Fritjof Capra , Willis Harman , Hazel Henderson , Petra Kelly , Amory Lovins , Joanna Macy , Robin Morgan , John Naisbitt , Jeremy Rifkin , Carl Rogers , Theodore Roszak , Kirkpatrick Sale , Charlene Spretnak , and Robert Theobald , and over the years it added such figures as Herman Daly , Marilyn Ferguson , Jane Jacobs , Winona LaDuke , and Robert Rodale . " New Options " did not succeed in all quarters . Jules Feiffer , for example , often seen as being on the liberal - left , called it " irritating " and " neo - yuppie " . Jason McQuinn , often seen as a radical , objected to what he perceived as its relentless American optimism . George Weigel , 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 " . Some observers , notably British Green Party liaison Sara Parkin , 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 Charlene Spretnak , to draft its foundational political statement , " Ten Key Values " . Some accounts recognize futurist and " New Options " advisor Eleanor LeCain as a co - equal drafter . 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 . " That idea . . . came from Mark Satin " , Spretnak told scholar Greta Gaard 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 credits it with helping to unify the often contentious Greens . However , party co - founder Howie Hawkins 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 [ values ] questions 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 . 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 quit the Greens in 1990 . 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 , " 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 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 . 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 . 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 , Don Beck , Jerry H . Bentley , Esther Dyson , James Fallows , Shelley Alpern of the Social Investment Forum , Jane Mansbridge of the Harvard Kennedy School , John Marks and Susan Collin Marks of Search for Common Ground , Susan Partnow of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation , and William L . Ury , co - author of " Getting to YES " . " 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 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 " [ emphasis in original ] . Other critics accused Satin of abandoning his old constituency , as when author and former " New Options " advisor David Korten 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 . 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 . 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 . It also generated – like all of Satin ' s works – criticism and controversy . 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 . " 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 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 . " 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 , in part because of his status as a draft refuser . 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 ) . On Voice of America radio , Satin presented his proposal as one drawing equally from the best of the left and the right . On National Public Radio , he emphasized its fairness . " Radical Middle " provoked , and continues to provoke , essentially 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 . " Similarly , the policy director of the Democratic Leadership Council 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 . " Pragmatic respondents 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 like Ann Coulter – than they are to him as a political theorist . For example , Robert Olson of the World Future Society 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 Corinne McLaughlin 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 . [ Many ] years 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 [ my father ] was not altogether out to lunch . " Later that year Satin discovered his only life partner . He describes it as " no accident " . In 2009 Satin revealed he was losing his eyesight as a result of macular edema and diabetic retinopathy . 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 . Assessment . Mark Satin has been a controversial public figure since the age of 20 . Assessments of his significance vary widely . 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 . Marilyn Ferguson , 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 " 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 . Humanistic psychologist John Amodeo says Satin is one of the few political theorists to grasp the connection between personal growth and constructive political change . Ecofeminist Greta Gaard claims that Satin " played a significant role in facilitating the articulation of Green political thought " . Peace researcher Hanna Newcombe finds a spiritual dimension in Satin ' s politics . Political scientist Christa Slaton ' s short list of " nonacademic " transformationalists consists of Alvin and Heidi Toffler , Fritjof Capra , Marilyn Ferguson , Hazel Henderson , Betty Friedan , E . F . Schumacher , John Naisbitt , 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 , writing in " The Atlantic " , says Satin grew up in a small city in northern Minnesota like Bob Dylan , but did not have a guitar to express himself with . According to historian Frank Kusch , 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 . Literary critic Dennis Duffy calls him incapable of learning from his experiences . Green Party activist Howie Hawkins sees him as a political opportunist . " The Washington Monthly " portrayed him in his 50s as a former New Age " guru " , and " Commonweal " compares reading him to listening to glass shards grate against a blackboard . Other observers see Satin as an emotionally wounded figure . For example , historian Pierre Berton 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 , D . C . , 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 , 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 . 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 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 . At age 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 .