3 ms·

I agree that there are going to be situations where conflict between desires is unavoidable or where it is not possible to accommodate extreme desires; however

I agree that there are going to be situations where conflict between desires is unavoidable or where it is not possible to accommodate extreme desires; however that doesn't mean that finding compatible solutions is not the best approach in the vast majority of situations. I'd also point out that those are strategies to achieve desires, not desires themselves. The associated desires might be something like financial security, a sense of importance, freedom etc.

vkou 9y ago
Compatible solutions that are palatable to both parties - compromise - is very important. Sometimes, though, compromise is impossible. If you say that 3+3=6, and I say that 3+3=10, you'd be a fool to compromise on 8. This is made all the more obvious when we consider which of us gets to frame the debate. If I really wanted 3+3 to be 10, I'd just demand that we make 3+3=14, and I'll get exactly what I want, once we split the difference. Everyone wants freedom, and everyone wants agency, and everyone wants health and happiness. There's plenty of all of those things to go around. Many of us also want power, though, which is more likely to be a zero-sum game.
- frandroid 9y ago
  > I'd just demand that we make 3+3=14, and I'll get exactly what I want, once we split the difference. There's a lot of that happening...
gnaritas 9y ago
The problem is there are desires for which there are no compatible solutions. One group desires to oppress another; those are the common issues we're polarized on. The right desires to oppress minority groups and the left refuses, there is no solution to this problem the right will accept as oppression is their goal. Conversely, the new extreme regressive left wants to oppress all who simply disagree with them in word; they oppose free speech, there is no solution here either. When two cultures cannot agree, the only real solution is to segregate them, the US is too big, it needs to break down into several smaller countries where different cultures can go their own direction.

vkou 9y ago

Compatible solutions that are palatable to both parties - compromise - is very important. Sometimes, though, compromise is impossible. If you say that 3+3=6, and I say that 3+3=10, you'd be a fool to compromise on 8. This is made all the more obvious when we consider which of us gets to frame the debate. If I really wanted 3+3 to be 10, I'd just demand that we make 3+3=14, and I'll get exactly what I want, once we split the difference. Everyone wants freedom, and everyone wants agency, and everyone wants health and happiness. There's plenty of all of those things to go around. Many of us also want power, though, which is more likely to be a zero-sum game.

frandroid 9y ago
> I'd just demand that we make 3+3=14, and I'll get exactly what I want, once we split the difference. There's a lot of that happening...

gnaritas 9y ago

The problem is there are desires for which there are no compatible solutions. One group desires to oppress another; those are the common issues we're polarized on. The right desires to oppress minority groups and the left refuses, there is no solution to this problem the right will accept as oppression is their goal. Conversely, the new extreme regressive left wants to oppress all who simply disagree with them in word; they oppose free speech, there is no solution here either. When two cultures cannot agree, the only real solution is to segregate them, the US is too big, it needs to break down into several smaller countries where different cultures can go their own direction.