Many are confronted with the idea of extremism when they watch the news, or get updated on current events through some means. Extremism, especially of the religious kind, gets a spotlight, certainly when these issues occur on the other side of the globe. Few understand that these extremists are a minority, no matter what manner of faith they claim to hold onto. Even if you group up all such people of all religions, they do not represent the evil in the world, nor a majority.
Extremism is not limited to religion. It exists in religion, politics, business, war, and far more. It is about pursuing a cause so far as to make the end justify the means. It is about changing or ignoring your morals (or the higher morals of others) in order to get what you want. The reckless pursuit of goals is what this is all about, and it is a trait so broad that it goes beyond harming other people. To be labeled an extremist, one usually requires long-term dedication toward a particular goal, or uses means that are a cause for concern. There are both long-term and short-term extremists.
A long-term extremist is usually labeled as such when an unnecessary amount of time has been spent in the pursuit of their goal. It is considered unnecessary when the approach is short-sighted or has lost its effectiveness. Another example would be doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. A short-term extremist can be labeled as such when their support for a cause is quickly problematic, though their approach may not change for a long period as well. Short-term extremists can become long-term extremists, though it is not always the case that long-term extremists cause problems in the short-run.
Extremism is a trait often practiced when people believe they are more important than others. It can exist when one's goals appear greater than another person's. Extremism can exist when one goal outshines all others. It can be when all other goals cease to exist. Taking things to the extreme means one fails to account for the relativity of the goal or cause. It is the failure to account for exceptions to one's own perspective. This lack in judgement can exist for a few seconds, or it can last for years, but no matter the duration, it is something that is actually quite common in society. Whether you are cheating on a math test, shoving people in a crowded store on Black Friday, or mugging others in order to pay a hospital bill, you are practicing a form of extremism.
So how does one reduce extremism in society? Focusing on removing examples of it is not a long-term solution. What counteracts extremism in the long-run is a lasting antithesis. In other words, it is a lasting example of the same goal being achieved through better means, or it is proof that a goal cannot be met, especially with the means taken by the extremist in question.
Reducing the capability for extremism to appear is one thing, spending all of one's resources on hunting down extremism is another. The latter is in itself is a form of extremism. This means that only focusing on the evil in the world in order to remove said evil does not rid the world of evil. In order to not become what you stand against, there must be an even greater amount of effort put towards creating good.
If a single cause is being pursued via different means (both positive and negative), then one should focus more on boosting the positive than fighting the negative. Fixating oneself on tempered positive change is a way of resisting the extreme, the negative and the barbaric. One must remember that resources are always limited, and if so much is wasted on combating evil or error, than not enough can be spent on positive means toward positive causes. You cannot tip the scale in your favor if all you ever do is remove the other person's weights. Your cause soon becomes balance, but that balance is a representation of the status quo in the real world, and problems do not not normally solve themselves.
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