Ideology and Compromise
I wanted to post about this particular topic because I think it will help with a current discussion I am having with a friend, in helping him, and others, understand where I come from on an ideological level and how I think about deeper issues.
I will fully admit that I am pretty left of center on some major issues, and in our simplistic society that is the U.S. of A. considered a Socialist, even though the majority of the population of my country probably doesn’t even recognize what that really means. However, that does not mean that I am trapped within my own little wind tunnel that is one’s ideology and am not without compromise on some issues.
One specific example, and it also just happens to be what the current discussion is about with a friend of mine and myself, is our current state of gun laws. For the most part, I would be considered an anti-gun advocate, especially since I agree with the group of constitutional lawyers that think the 2nd amendment doesn’t give private ownership rights of firearms and am for the D.C. ban on handguns. However, in spite of all of this, I am not without compromise. I would forgo what I think the 2nd amendment really says if we had some sort of national conceal and carry law as well as some mandatory training that went into the process of obtaining a permit to own a gun. My main reasons for having this compromise is because guns have become a deep part of our society and have been for so long that it’s pretty unreasonable to think that we can get away with an all out ban on all guns just because some of us view the second amendment a different way.
There are more examples I could get into, but I wanted to keep this as a short post, but feel free to comment if you would like me to expand my thoughts on this further. I just think it’s important, that despite ideological leanings, that we are able to step out of ourselves and find some compromise that benefits all sides. Some want to do this willingly, some will only do this if they get everything they want, or at least the majority of everything they want, then still call it compromise (think of the latest attempt of Obama and the Congressional Democrats in trying to get some Republicans to sign off on the stimulus bill, especially when it came to the House), and there are still even some that refuse to compromise at all.
I’m all against bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship, which is really another matter altogether, but I think compromise, on some level is key to getting things done and making some progress in life.