Saturday, May 28, 2005

The Art of Compromise (Peace) in action ...

“Non-violence and peace do not mean that we remain indifferent, passive. I believe that as long as human beings remain, as long as human intelligence is present, some kind of conflict remains. If we look at contradictory ideas, they are not necessarily negative. Forces that contradict one another are the basis of further development. What we need is a method, a technique, to overcome these contradictions. That is compromise. In today’s reality the only way to solve a problem is compromise. Since your interest is very much related with others’ interest, you can’t sacrifice others’ interests. Therefore compromise, 50-50.”
– H.H. the Dalai Lama, from “The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights, Conflict, and Reconciliation”



... In today’s reality the only way to solve a problem is compromise...(excerpted from quote above

and so it is …

Examples:

Compromise Slows Power Play - Byron Williams
Excerpt:

As the majority of the Senate gave its best efforts to forgo its traditional genteel persona, preferring the more raucous, steel-cage-match nature of the House, a gang of 14 returned them to their collective sensibilities, if only momentarily. (cutting)

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, perhaps summed it up best: "The American people clearly understand that this whole exercise was a Republican abuse of power designed to water down our constitutional system of checks and balances and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for the president."

Though far from perfect, the bipartisan Senate compromise managed to accomplish that much.



Sen. Clinton, Former House Speaker Gingrich Team Up on Health IT Legislation, USA
Excerpt:

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga) on Wednesday announced they will work together to promote legislation to spur the adoption of electronic record-keeping applications by the health care industry, the... AP/Las Vegas Sun reports (Freking, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 5/12). Clinton and Gingrich appeared at a news conference in support of a bill (HR 2234) introduced in the House on Wednesday by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) that would provide doctors and hospitals with incentives to adopt health information technology networks.


Brave new steps for peace being boldly taken a hostile environment because ...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)



Notes about this Quotation

* Although this is the popular form of this quotation, a more correct translation from the original Chinese would be "The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet." Rather than emphasizing the first step, Lau Tzu regarded action as something that arises naturally from stillness. Another potential phrasing would be "Even the longest journey must begin where you stand." [note by Michael Moncur, September 01, 2004] - Reference: http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24004.html


Whichever way it's said … it has begun; The Art of Peace ... being created as we live, with the many brush strokes of compromise. May it BEcome the most beautiful and treasure piece of art, of all mankind.

-Deb