Smoke Filled Rooms

As a history major, I used to be very against the image of a group of power-brokers sitting together and hashing out a deal. There was no transparency, it served their own self interest, and the results were not always beneficial to the public.

Flash forward to to modern day: radical transparency. Everything is tweeted, a quote or misspoken word is blasted on 24/7 media cycle, and "gotcha moments" are preferred to carefully thought out, difficult compromises.

The thing about compromises is that it only works if people give in. Generally, no one is happy with the results. We all have made dinner plans with a group of friends: sushi, Chinese, Mexican - we compromise to an American restaurant that serves tacos (sorta).

As we see gridlock within our government, a quick tweet, ginning up the parties is more electric than old fashioned "horse trading." While I am certainly not advocating a dark bar with whiskey and cigars to make a deal -- scaling back radical transparency and compromising appears appealing on paper. Avocado toast and beet jam, optional.