[andars]

I'm not convinced that such "old days" ever existed. I'm open to the idea, but the more I learn of history, the more it seems like the deals were the exception, not the rule. The system was designed from the beginning to make things difficult.

[flukus]

Maybe survivorship bias? We hear about the deals that were made but not all the ones that fell through.

[andars]

I think you are onto something with this.

I like to consider all the compromises in the antebellum United States. They show up in the history books as great legislative successes, but in the end, a half century of dispute came down to a war.