TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024 - PROTESTS CONTINUED

 TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024 - PROTESTS AND COMPROMISES

It seems everything has at least two sides.  Pro-Life or Pro-Choice; Israel or Palestine; Rich or Poor; Environment or Economy.  (or Stopping World Communism in Vietnam)

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When balances are made, things work better.  

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COMPROMISES

“Compromise refers to the process of reaching an agreement or settlement in which both parties make concessions or sacrifices to achieve a mutually acceptable solution.”

https://www.arrivalcs.com/blog/the-art-of-compromise-balancing-individual-needs-in-a-relationship 

We all have needs - and we all have wants.  

And we sometimes try to pose “wants” as “needs.”  I need a car to get to work, shop, and do things.  I HAVE to have a car.

I’m thinking of a friend who recently had a mild stroke, but it affects her vision, and she can no longer drive.  With some older adults, this is catastrophic - life is over.  This friend has approached her situation logically.  Cars cost money.  To buy a car is maybe $25,000 or more.  If you drive that car for five years, that is $5,000 a year.  Also, licensing, insurance, gas, oil changes, and regular maintenance might cost another $5,000 a year.  She has decided that $10,000 a year can get her regular Uber (or Lyft), bus, taxi, or other transportation.  She lives in a senior complex and regularly trips to grocery stores, malls, and even irdressers.  As part of her living arrangements, she can get to where she wants to go - and spend less than $10,000 a year.  

But, compromises require both sides to make concessions.  (Almost treaties).  The Israelites need to realize that the Palestinians need the bare necessities: Food,  Water, Shelter, Clothing, Medically necessary health care, Sanitation, Clean Air, and an Environment conducive to Human Health (Law Insider: https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/basic-necessities-of-life 

In history, the rulers had palaces, and the peons had huts.  The rulers had food, water, health care, and sanitation, and the peons had little. 

In the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution (and others), the rulers had all the good things, and the peasants had nothing. If the peasants protested—all too frequently—the rulers made stricter laws and more prohibitions.  The old slogan “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” still exists. 

World War II happened because, at the end of World War I, the winners put impossible demands on Germany - which caused terrible inflation and human suffering. Along came the National Socialists (NAZIs) who promised a better life.  (And unfortunately, a better life if you killed off the Jews).  

In sports, if you win, be a good winner, and be a good loser if you don’t win.  Don’t run up the score to humiliate the losers.  Put in your second (and third team).  

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Most protests are based on differences in opinion.  Get an impartial mediator - and listen to both sides.  Did the Palestinians attack Israel - yes; did Israel attack the attackers?  Yes.  Can’t we find ways to let both sides “win”?  Can the Palestinians get food, water, shelter, and reasonable jobs?  

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Are students protesting the Israel/Palestine war?  Some are.  Some are protesting unfair treatment by one side over the other side (that has gone on for years).  I sense there are rabid partisans mixed in - maybe Arabs who will always want Israel to go away.  (And, likewise, rabid Israelis that want to get rid of the Palestinian issue.)  

And, of course, the conflict becomes even more significant when religion gets thrown in.  “God ordained - God gave us THIS LAND”.  Just read the history from the Bible.  (but what if the other side has another history of invaders taking over the land of Canaan and slaughtering the original inhabitants?

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One of the Protest songs from 1969 over the Vietnam War is One Tin Soldier (by the Original Caste):

Go ahead and cheat a friend

Do it in the name of heaven

You can justify it in the end

There won't be any trumpets blowing

Come the judgment day

On the bloody morning after

One Tin Soldier rides away

(One Tin Soldier Song )

Now they stood beside the treasure

On the mountain, dark and red

Turned the stone and looked beneath it

"Peace on Earth" was all it said

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Back to protests: In my opinion, people (groups) need to be able to discuss their complaints openly and honestly.  Those in power need to listen - see if there can be a reasonable compromise.  

And, as a former college student in protests in the 1960s over the Vietnam War, those issues still burn deep within many of us.  

I have at least one blouse in my closet that says “Made in Vietnam”.  Was the death of 58,200 people worth it?  And, the average age of death for those killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years old. 

Another slogan from the 1960s - is “Better Red than Dead”.  

I say, “LOVE WINS”, and “Turn the other cheek”,

Don’t fight fire with fire - fight fire with water, with love, with compromises - and with humility.

Let LOVE TRANSFORM YOU!!!

Karen Anne White, ©, May 7, 2024