{"id":135234,"date":"2017-10-31T16:32:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T22:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=135234"},"modified":"2017-10-31T20:41:58","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T02:41:58","slug":"compromising-compromise-lessons-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/10\/31\/compromising-compromise-lessons-history.html","title":{"rendered":"Compromising compromise and the lessons of history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Which just goes to show that even the “adult in the room” can say some doltish things.<\/p>\n

Now, I like to think of myself as a reasonable, get-along sort of guy, and I’m often able to find room to compromise between what I want and what others want. Not always gracefully, I confess, but compromise is at the root of living in a society.<\/p>\n

This metaphor starts to break down over scale and principle, though. Yes, ultimately all conflicts come down to an inability of one side or the other or both to compromise. The American Revolution came about because the North American colonists and the British Parliament were unable to compromise on issues like taxation and representation. [1] The War of 1812 came about because US and British unresolved conflicts from 1789, and pressures between the US and the UK because of France, and issues with impressment of American sailors by British naval ships failed to be compromised about.<\/p>\n

Were these tragic failures of compromise?<\/p>\n

Scooting forward a century and change, certainly efforts were made to compromise with Hitler — these were labeled appeasement, which is often the same thing. France and England didn’t have<\/i> to declare war over Poland. Germany — and Japan — might have occupied a number of countries without it turning into the massive global conflict, all due to lack of compromise by both the Axis and the Allies.<\/p>\n

Let’s roll back to the Civil War, though. It’s critical to note the root cause for that conflict — slavery — and that the US (and, more importantly, the slave population) suffered from compromise on this issue from the very beginning: the debate over the Declaration of Independence and the insistence by southern states that an anti-slavery clause be dropped from it. The US Constitution included the notorious 3\/5 compromise (slaves, which could not vote, counted as 3\/5 of a person for purpose of state representation in Congress and the Electoral College, thus ensuring that southern states had an outsized influence in US governance for many decades). The Missouri Compromise over the spread of slavery into new states was another example of such compromise.<\/p>\n

Was compromise over slavery worth it? Was, ultimately, the unwillingness of Northerners, for whatever reason, to compromise in allowing slavery to spread further really something to we wish hadn’t happened? Or that the Union should have bid the South a hale farewell and left the secession at that (further compromising by turning over federal military installations like Ft Sumter)? Was Kelly suggesting that perhaps the Southern leaders ought to have compromised on their “peculiar institution” and its continuation?<\/p>\n

At what point does compromise become appeasement? Or surrender? What principles ought not to be compromised, or can be compromised only so far until they cease to exist? When we’re talking something like chattel slavery, ninety years of compromise a good and praiseworthy thing?<\/p>\n

For that matter, when’s the last time that Kelly’s boss ever publicly compromised on anything?<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

[1] Yes, I will be simplifying history here. Bear with me.<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a>
\nJohn Kelly Pins Civil War on a \u2018Lack of Ability to Compromise\u2019<\/a><\/span>
\nThe reaction was swift and unforgiving after Mr. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, resurrected the debate over the legacy of the Confederacy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which just goes to show that even the “adult in the room” can say some doltish things. Now, I like to think of myself as a reasonable, get-along sort of guy, and I’m often able to find room to compromise between what I want and what others want. Not always gracefully, I confess, but compromise … Continue reading “Compromising compromise and the lessons of history”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,108,740],"tags":[1297,945,1276],"class_list":["post-135234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts","category-history","category-race-racism","tag-civilwar","tag-history","tag-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/John-Kelly.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":135851,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/14\/confederate-flag-compromise-isnt.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":0},"title":"A confederate flag compromise that isn’t","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 14-Jan-18 9:33am","format":false,"excerpt":"I'd love to know whether GOP state rep Greg Snowden is being naive or nefarious in proposing a solution to the debate in Mississippi over continued use of the Confederate battle ensign in its state flag that will likely only satisfy the folk who want to keep that tribute to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/unnamed-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11725,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/02\/15\/dont_know_much_about_hist.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":1},"title":"“Don’t know much about history …”","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 15-Feb-08 10:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So Margie knows someone at work whose spouse is involved in the history department at Rangeview High ... and so (her having mentioned my academic background in history), I found...","rel":"","context":"In "School Daze"","block_context":{"text":"School Daze","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/school-daze"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18041,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/08\/03\/unblogged-bits-tue-3-aug-10-0200.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":2},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Tue. 3-Aug-10 0200)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 3-Aug-10 12:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Live action Mulan coming soon? - Innnnteresting. Love the animated version, btw. Let Your Geek Gavel Fly - We need more Nerd Judges ... Versus - Ah, the challenge of paradigm shifting during Game\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney\/Pixar"","block_context":{"text":"Disney\/Pixar","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/disney"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26219,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/08\/will-this-mean-that-obama-wont-cave-compromise-again.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":3},"title":"Will this mean that Obama won't cave compromise (again)?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 8-Feb-12 8:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Hard to tell. But the US Catholic Bishops might have lost their best bargaining opportunity. If they'd waited until Obama offered such a compromise, then declared it unacceptable, I'm sure he'd have compromised still further. Now, just maybe, he won't even try. #ddtb Embedded Link Bishops Reject Proposed Compromise with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133900,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/19\/compromise-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":4},"title":"Compromise","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Jul-17 12:33pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Too sadly true.[Original: http:\/\/www.smbc-comics.com\/comic\/voters; h\/t +Les Jenkins] \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/smbc%2Bcompromise%2B1500415277-20170719.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/smbc%2Bcompromise%2B1500415277-20170719.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/smbc%2Bcompromise%2B1500415277-20170719.pngimgmax%3D660.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30686,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/18\/on-tip-and-gip-and-fighting-and-cooperation.html","url_meta":{"origin":135234,"position":5},"title":"On Tip and Gip and fighting and cooperation","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 18-Oct-12 2:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting look back on Reagan and O'Neill by the latter's son. Embedded Link Frenemies: A Love Story Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan fought tooth and nail - until the American people needed compromise. Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135240,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135234\/revisions\/135240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}