One of the advantages of growing up where I did and in the circumstances in which we lived was to learn how to compromise to get what I wanted. I do realize that sixty years ago the world was a different place than today, but some basic principles still apply that would do for our present time and problems.
We lived on a “hardscrabble” farm of 160 acres in North Central Missouri. The ground we tilled was a mixture of clay over a “hardpan” and wresting a living from that and from the livestock we raised was a challenge. But the lessons about getting along can be gleaned that might help in the present bickering over the response to the pandemic we are experiencing. I will use only my brother and myself, since we are just 17 months apart in age and had somewhat similar goals in life.
Dad had to work on road construction during the spring and summer months to make ends meet, so that left the bulk of the farm work to Darrell and my self. Cash was in short supply, so our compensation would arrive in the form of crops sold or livestock sold. We had two old tractors, a 1946 John Deere “A” and a 1951 John Deere “B”, with which to do the farming. Most of the grain sold would be for the farm, but we were allowed to rent a small number of acres from a neighbor and that would be our income. Dad would allow us to use the machinery; of course we would have to pay for what gas and oil we consumed, as well as for the seed corn and beans we planted.
Also, in conjunction with our 4H projects, we each was allowed to select a sow to breed and to sell the litter when they matured. We never got rich, but the money which came in the fall allowed us some measure of “wealth” for our work. Several other farm kids were doing much the same in our community.
With the hard work of the summer done, Dad was the one who ran the corn picker and combine for the crops and we trucked our treasures into the local elevator for sale. Darrell and I would bring the precious check home and try to divvy up the proceeds; in other words, who got what?
Darrell, being older wanted the lion’s share. He, after all did the planting, contending, with only a little evidence, that I couldn’t plant the crops in a straight line. I countered with the stoop labor with the seed, fertilizer and my work on getting the ground ready for the planting.
Eventually all was settled, with just a little more spilling over into his pockets. We had an independent arbiter, Dad. The pig thing was settled much easier. I was allowed the choice of sows at the beginning, but the long-running joke was that mine were always the less prolific critter. Mostly I broke even while Darrell walked off with a boatload of cash from his.
So what does this have to do with our present national money crunch in America? Our economy has some limits. Estimates go as high as $22 trillion, and two political parties feel they each have claim on it, on how to spend it. Pulling in another direction are those individuals (workers) who produce the wealth through work, innovation and entrepreneurship, those who earned it. Our tax and use system (in general terms) are forced to give a share to the government, which is controlled by two major political parties, the Democrats; this older party dates back to about 1828, while the younger party, the Republicans began in 1854.
Through the taxing system, the government has about $5 trillion to use for the public good. Who gets what? Within each party are many who demand their constituents get the “lion’s share” of the cash. Recently conflicting claims have become quite rancorous, and only the weight of the voters tip the balance. But now an insidious force has made this competition for the assets more critical — COVID19. People are hurting, dying, losing jobs, businesses, who gets the aid needed?
When beginning my study of history and political science at university over 50 years ago, one of the maxims was that politics was the “art of compromise”, the same kind of simple give and take I learned on the farm in the 1950s. The kind of give and take the American system practiced as we bounced from crisis to crisis from our founding, can be utilized in our present situation. Instead we are bombarded with cries that the President has “blood on his hands” on how he has handled the virus spread. On the other hand, there are those who want to make sure their side is the best compensated to keep body and soul together.
Two brothers on a Missouri farm could and did compromise, with help from their father. They were family and accepted neither could get everything they wanted. What many Republicans and Democrats seem to forget that each of us is American, family indeed. Why cannot we expect that politicians from different parties, different parts of the country, should come together, discuss, argue and give some and take some so that the vast majority of our American family will benefit?
Down through the pages of U. S. history there have been good deals made with the other party and there have been some bad deals. We don’t know how all this economical dealing with turn out. But it seems a good time to tone down the rhetoric, sit down with the opposition, and get to work on the “art of the compromise”, for the future of the greatest nation on earth may depend on it.