Just a Thought: Negotiating Negotiations, Compromising Compromise, Avoiding every Cliff!

By: Aaron Joseph. A few moments ago, news flashed “Harry Reid to make announcement at 11:00am.” I suppose there will be something to say. I chose to write before the announcement. Not for speculation sake, but for the inherent value of conveying a thought based on the yet ongoing process.

Life is a series of negotiations. When I taught math, I would often remind the children that every waking moment is a mathematical calculation. Time, speed, movement, direction, it all comes down to mathematical processing; as soon as you enter an outside factor, it becomes negotiation.

Here in the streets of Lakewood, an obvious (or for some- less obvious) negotiation would be, do I let the mini-van or bus merge in front of my car. It’s a negotiation, however silent- or otherwise. Some would rather term this interaction, but it is negotiation- mutual- or otherwise.

Most of our daily decisions are negotiations; be it internal or external. Yet we get by, sometimes through compromise, sometimes through sheer force, and sometimes relinquishing a position. Compromise can be a position that offers mutual satisfaction.

The number one is special, and reserved. Only God is one. The number one is a Prime Number and hard to utilize. In truth, an “only,” hardly exists, if at all. The only real “only” I know of, is you, and me, and everybody else. We in the plural are the individualistic “only.” Unlike the Godly number one, we, the “only,” share a common ground.

President Kennedy said during his famous commencement address to American University in 1963, “For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s futures. And we are all mortal.” President Kennedy went on to state that “We shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we must labor on—not towards a strategy of annihilation but towards a strategy of peace.” These words of President Kennedy, as any strategy, requires compromise.

We have all been watching the great drama that the “financial cliff” is providing. We are all in fascination of this unapologetic governmental standoff. Perhaps though it is a fundamental standoff which has nothing to do with our government per say. It is a breakdown of compromise, and a school of the resolute.

Perhaps this product of resolute is not an education that evolves in the hallways of congress, but rather, in the streets and walkways of our daily lives, here in Lakewood, and around the globe. Where our representatives are simply doing their job oh so well, based on the persona of their constituents who elected them there in the first place.

Perhaps it is the requirement of the “only” individual, be it in the privacy of our own home or mind, or yet the streets and walkways of town, any town, where basic compromise must be wrought. Can it be in our very own hands to mend the ever-resolute forces in Washington, by finding mutual agreement, hence contentment, by way of our own devised compromises in our daily lives and encounters?

This content, and any other content on TLS, may not be republished or reproduced without prior permission from TLS. Copying or reproducing our content is both against the law and against Halacha. To inquire about using our content, including videos or photos, email us at [email protected].

Stay up to date with our news alerts by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

**Click here to join over 20,000 receiving our Whatsapp Status updates!**

**Click here to join the official TLS WhatsApp Community!**

Got a news tip? Email us at [email protected], Text 415-857-2667, or WhatsApp 609-661-8668.

3 COMMENTS

  1. ??
    WHATS YOUR POINT?, what is taking place in congress is an embarasemnet ,totall incompetence (including the President!) on the part of those who are supposed to be running this nation.

  2. 2 is the lowest prime number. 1 is not a prime number. But why is 1 hard to utilize? It is trivial in any equation unless it is a separate term.

    1^x =1. It is the multiplicative identity. It is its own reciprocal. x^0 = 1. The nubmer 1 has a lot of utility!

    I’ll show you mathematical beauty:

    e^(pi x i) + 1 =0 This is Euler’s identity.

    You have the five most famous numbers in a single equation. 1 is the multiplicative identity. 0 is the additive identity. “Pi” is the ratio of the cirucmference to the diameter of a circle. “i” forms all complex numbers (sq. rt. -1). “e” is the base of the natural logarithm.

    I once kinda understood it.

Comments are closed.