Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by vkou 464 days ago
The compromise between fucking insanity and good governance is not agreeing to go half way into fucking insanity.

Meeting an unreasonable person half-way is giving them a blank cheque to become more unreasonable.

All it does is tell them that you're a sucker.

1 comments

Depends on what cards one is holding.

Getting half of what one wants and not being driven off a cliff can be preferable to smiling in moral smugness while the car arcs through the air.

Past behavior of this administration strongly predicts that your reward for kowtowing to its value-compromising demands... Is becoming the target of further value-compromising demands.

It doesn't engage in positive-sum games.

It doesn't have to.

Strictly in terms of self-interest, sometimes compromise can be the optimal move.

If they're willing to self-harm for the cause, then the optimal move is to grab the wheel and yank it yourself to change direction and stop the car from careening off the cliff.
Or at minimum, not gas it up.
> smiling in moral smugness while the car arcs through the air

Sorry, why is this metaphorical car arcing through the air again? What's that all about?