someone said:“Why is President Obama always making concessions to the Republicans? They have NEVER done that for us when they were in power. Why can’t we do what they did to us: act like a majority and just let them DEAL WITH IT.”
my thought:When President Obama said he wanted to change how Washington works, I don’t think he meant “We’re going to do to Republicans what they did to us for 8 years!!” I know there’s something that is very satisfying, in a very animal way, about taking that attitude. But ultimately it perpetuates the problem.
Gandhi fought back against the British Empire with non-violence. He was smart enough to know that it wouldn’t work IMMEDIATELY. He would get hit. People in his movement would get killed. The enemy wouldn’t immediately say, “Oh, ok, we’ll stop being violent, too!” They would react the same way they always have, with violence. And they would do it again. And again. And again.
But Gandhi knew that over time, through perseverance, people’s eyes would open and the dynamic would change. Not without great losses, but with persistence. He knew it was the only way to change the SYSTEM. Because the moment he hit back, he just continued the same cycle.
I think this is what President Obama is trying to do. He’s trying to say, “I’m going to show compromise, even if you won’t. I’m going to try to see both sides of the issue, even if you won’t. I’m going to demonstrate my ability to make concessions, even if you won’t.”
Because that’s the only hope we have that EVENTUALLY, they will.
