Everyone compromises

~ The "Great Compromiser", US Senator Henry Clay... It is said he compromised so much that when he eventually died, he possessed no soul because he compromised it away...
__________________________

Every year, there are elections somewhere in the world from President/Prime Minister/Chancellor all the way down the political ladder to Assemblyman.   And what is the biggest load of bullsh.. I mean campaign promise that politicians of ALL political stripes say?

"I will fight for you..."

Meaning.. "I will not back down.. I will not concede to special interests or the will of others.. I will fight.. I will Not compromise!"   etc..etc..

So for "fun" I went on Google & keyworded the term "compromise"

Here's headlines just of the last 24 hours...

Obama Says Middle East Peace Requires ‘Wrenching’ Compromise (Bloomberg) - "The remarks followed an address to the U.S. Congress yesterday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said Israel is willing to make “painful compromises” to achieve Middle East peace..."

(State of Washington) House approves compromise budget that cuts heavily from education (Kitsap Sun)

(Nevada) Democrats' proposed budget compromise includes $250 million in cuts (Las Vegas Sun)

Greens Party (Australia) backtrack on carbon tax, saying they’ll accept a compromise price (Eco-business.com)

(NY Governor) Cuomo and Silver Compromise on 2 Percent Tax Cap (RyePatch.com)

~  Now here's the interesting thing.. while searching news with the word 'compromise' I found editorials either insisting their government leaders do it, or justifying that its in the best interests of a state or nation to do so.  I was amazed at a couple of the editorials that even used historical precedent to justify compromise as a "good thing"  such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

But let's delve into that a second.  In 1776, the northern colonies led by John Adams and other delegates wanted to abolish slavery because it was morally wrong and looked really two-faced to demand freedom from King George III while they themselves enslaved others..  The southern colonies were insistent that it be protected and that no mention of it be in the Declaration.  So the northern delegates Compromised by conceding the point entirely.

In 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, the same issue of slavery came up- whether to abolish it or allow it to continue with the birth of a new nation draped in the slogans of 'freedom' and 'liberty'.   So, what happened? -- Compromise again.   It was agreed by all that blacks were to be considered 3/5ths a human being for tax collection  purposes since southerners insisted they were chattel not people, thus not to be counted in census or taxed.   And it was agreed via compromise that the slave trade was allowed to go on for 20 more years until the accepted date of 1807.

And everyone was so happy & shook hands & patted themselves on the back.. well except for the slaves but.. Hey, they got that Compromise!

Then Compromise continued repeatedly of the first half of the 19th century where slave state and free state had to be balanced out so neither north or south had an advantage in representation in the US Senate (Missouri Compromise & Compromise of 1850 the most famous of them)   All those compromises did, beyond having politicians sell their soul for appeasement, is cause an eventual four year long Civil War resulting in 600,000 Needless casualties on the Union and Confederacy because the Founding Fathers were Cowards to dig in their heels and fight for their principles.

Compromise on insignificant things is harmless.. Things like 'where do we go for dinner?'...  Compromise when it matters and when others lives will be directly impacted is harmful and self-serving.

Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain sums it up best:

"Compromise is killing this country... Compromise is killing this economy."

Yes, Compromise is killing all the economies of all nations.