Triadic philosophy works. Anything flexible has the best chance of working. Anything that considers values is likely to have a better chance of success. Anything that is always open to being amended, to starting over, is best. I have done the triadic philosophy exercise in my head, submitting reality to ethics and aesthetics. That is the winning triad of this philosophy. My conclusion is that the GOP must bend. Otherwise, there will be little chance of resolution. Let me explain. The sign I considered is shut down. That is the reality. Bear with me.
Ethics
Shut down yielded up the synonyms bickering and impasse. I moved to the ethics (second) stage of triadic thought. I considered tolerance and found that it would not work because it requires a flexibility which is impossible for many obvious reasons. I moved to considering helpfulness and realized that the basis for an agreement would only exist if the GOP yielded on issues that relate to reducing or eliminating the suffering of children and immigrants -- an inevitability if the Democrats cave. It seemed obvious enough. I considered the third value, democracy, and concluded that we are far from an environment that makes democracy a viable motive. No, of the universal values, it was helpfulness that was front and center.
My aesthetic stage
Since I was doing the thinking it was up to me to complete the process and to create this article. It is my best answer to achieving as close to what would be true and beautiful as possible under the circumstances. It states clearly what is necessary to move forward. I suspect that it will become the decision of the American people.
Unless the GOP is perceived to have yielded on the humane matters that are at risk, it will have the lion’s share of responsibility. This decision would not be possible unless persons on both sides are able to transcend binary inflexibility and do what is both feasible and right.
Expression as act
This exercise is the best way I know to solve any conflict. Unless the reality, the conflict itself, is seen as the problem, there can be no progress.
Unless the problem is strained through a colander of universal values, there is no transcendence and little prospect of resolution. Unless there is a notion of Truth And Beauty at the end of the tunnel, the situation deteriorates.
Bitter Bickering Muddies the Path to Ending the Government Shutdown https://t.co/c5PCcOZVCD
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) January 21, 2018
The sooner wiser heads on both sides advocate this reasonable conclusion, the sooner those whose instincts are binary will face a wave of truth and beauty they cannot defeat.
