It Is Good To Compromise, But Not In Any Situation

Nowadays, it feels like compromise is less accepted. The polarization seems more extreme, and people hold intractable positions. They think their ideas are superior, and therefore they are unwilling to listen, let alone change their position. To change their beliefs or views is a sign of weakness or a sign that you are not convinced enough.

It is not a sign of weakness to change your opinion or ideas; it is a sign of maturity and intellect if you are able to change your opinion or views. To respect someone else´s opinion doesn´t necessarily mean you agree, but you can correlate with that person. By exchanging ideas and opinions, we learn, and we deepen our knowledge. To reach a reasonable compromise, it takes effort, and we need to be aware of someone else´s needs and demands without losing sight of our own goals and needs.

Compromise is acknowledging the complexity of life; in life, there is no black or white, 100% good or 100% evil. We all have to deal with things we don´t like or which annoy us. In real life, there are many shades of gray, and making compromises shows that one can deal with this reality.

Compromise as a goal must be seen as an invaluable end synonymous with success. Political and social engagement as a zero-sum game must be vigorously refuted. The concept of “winning” must be broadened to include the achievement of a middle ground in which the parties have a shared sense of vestment in a final result that distributes benefits and losses among competing parties.

B.D. Morant

It does not mean that you always have to compromise. Compromise does not mean that you give in on principles. Therefore seeking compromise is an active task and takes effort. One should be aware of your views and beliefs and be conscious of your values and moral beliefs and fundamentals. One of the most erroneous political compromises was the compromise between Chamberlain and Hitler in the Munich Agreement. It allowed Nazi Germany’s annexation of the Sudetenland, a region in western Czechoslovakia, in exchange for a peace treaty between Nazi Germany and the United Kingdom. Chamberlain broke a fundamental principle in international relationships, that of sovereignty, and by this started the process of annihilation of Czechoslovakia and much more. It is impossible to predict what would have happened if there was no Munich Agreement and what would have happened if the United Kingdom and French had not made this compromise with Hitler, but we all know what happened after this compromise.

The spread of evil is the symptom of a vacuum. Whenever evil wins, it is only by default: by the moral failure of those who evade the fact that there can be no compromise on basic principles.

There can be no compromise on basic principles. There can be no compromise on moral issues. There can be no compromise on matters of knowledge, of truth, of rational conviction.

Ayn Rand

Do not change your ethical stance for a compromise. If you lose material things or time during a deal, you might regret it momentarily, but if you ignore your ethics, that can stay with you for a lifetime. The challenge in compromising is to find the balance, you may bend, but you must not break. Be aware of your breaking point and know where you draw the line. You must be clear in your mind why you want something and on what aspects you could give something away, without being untrue to yourself. It is not possible to reach a fair compromise when you are in a heated argument. If there is too much frustration or emotion, then it is hard to have a reasonable perspective. To reach a good compromise, you and the other party must feel safe (emotionally and physically). Compromise does not have to feel perfect; we are no saints. You gain some, and you lose some. But the important thing is that in the end, we feel understood and respected.

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