And to the sycophant, pointing out real and obvious drawbacks is being a curmudgeon.

In such situations, the golden mean is a useful lens.

Mortal combat is the only way to resolve this.

The golden mean is only a useful lens if all sides are equally prepared to take up extremist positions. If some people are taking up considerate or even reasonable positions but others take up the absolute, the golden mean will always skew towards the unreasonable.