Compromise

Today during the interview on WPR, they seemed to spend an unnecessarily long time discussing "compromise." One of Owen's 10 rules of governance is that compromise isn't a victory in and of itself. The host and callers seemed to conclude from this statement and Owen's explanation of it that the only successful compromise is the one where the conservative wins and the liberal loses. This is simply not the case.

Right now there is a piece of birthday cake on the kitchen table. Two of my kids are eyeing it longingly. How can the kids reach a compromise? The older one could have it and the younger one would cry. The younger one could have it and the older one would cry. They could have a winner-takes-all brawl on the kitchen floor. They could postpone the decision until later and both would be temporarily satisfied. They could give the cake to their brother and not have any themselves. They could throw the cake in the trash and no one could have it at all. Or they could cut the cake in half and each have an equal amount. Each of those options is a possible solution. Four are compromises, where at minimum, they may or may not get some of what they want, but the other guy doesn't fare much better: postpone the decision (though temporary), throw it out, give it to their brother, and divide it equally. Still, only one is a real compromise, one where each side gets some of what that they want: dividing the piece of cake equally between the two of them.

Yes, the only effective form of compromise allows each side to half their cake and eat it, too.