The Art of Compromise

I have studied history since before I can even remember. According to my parents I was reading before my third birthday. I have always loved history and read it as a child. I love the history of my nation. The United States of America is a truly unique study in history. As a nation we were not the by product of kingly ambition. Rather we were built by a group of men carving out a new idea.

As I have studied history I have come to realize that phrases like "the Founding Fathers believed..." to be somewhat erroneous. There was no unified belief among those who created our nation. In fact there were many different views as to what our nation should be. Our foundational document the Constitution of the United States did not spring full formed from the head of Zeus. It was built by arduous debate and compromise.

The ability to compromise and reach a middle ground has been the hallmark of the American Republic. That is our greatness. We don't accept any "pure" political philosophy. Rather we borrow from them all. A little here, a little there. We try to take the best ideas out there and find ways to incorporate them. We should be proud of that tradition. We don't need European style political philosophers trying to give us the perfect system. Our ancestors left the Old World behind. Let us do the same.

The truth is that no one is without bad ideas. What we need to do is spend time listening to each other. We need to find the valid points in the arguments of both sides. Then work a way into the middle. Find that point of compromise. What can we agree on and build from there. As voters and as citizens we should demand this of our leaders. We should not demand ideological purity. The last thing we need is a secular version of the wars of religion that nearly destroyed Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. What we need is the good old American can-do spirit. I guarantee that there is a middle ground that we can agree on with issues like taxes, immigration, health care, etc.

Will everyone be happy? No. Who cares? Let those who demand some form of ideological purity crawl back into the ivory towers. We are a practical people. We were not founded by theorists. We were founded and made great by practical ideas. We must remember that simple truth and let go of our political dogmas if we wish to end this polarization that has overwhelmed our nation. We are better than this. Together we can accomplish much. Divided, we will fall.


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