We began our series of political articles with the intention of proving that political success occurs because of compromise, instead of rigid ideologies. We thought we could prove our current politicians wrong. If some uneducated high school journalism students can work together to change our government, then why can’t our elected officials do it?

Well our conclusion was indifferent. Compromise is indeed possible but not absolute compromise. No one will give up everything for a cause, just a fragment of their opinion.

There are two main reasons why compromise is difficult for politicians, especially in the United States. First of all, since voter turnout is low in the U.S., the ruling party tends to be the one with the most dedicated followers. And since the main incentive for politicians is reelection, it can be more beneficial for them to stand by their beliefs rather than compromise.

For us, we have no political constraints and thus are free to write what we believe is the best solution for this country. An example would be on the federal budget issue, where we both made major sacrifices to domestic and foreign expenditures to come up with a reasonable plan for balancing the budget. However, as long as politicians focus on reelection, compromise of any kind will be unlikely.

Our compromise was by no means flawless. There were still some issues that neither of us were willing to budge on. For instance, green energy, one of us would rather have this nation run almost exclusively on green energy while the other still firmly believes in cheap and available oil.

It was moments such as this where we found ourselves stepping into the shoes of our politicians. We understood that neither of us would ever fully understand the other’s argument. In other words, we agreed to disagree and moved on from there.

The other reason politicians have a difficult time compromising is due to the nature of worldviews. Since our political beliefs are grounded in our worldview, they commonly reflect our morals and religions. This is not to say that everyone of one specific religion will have the same political beliefs, but rather that they possess some kind of synergy towards an individual’s worldview.

This is why it can be difficult to have a productive political argument. You could no more convince some Republicans and Democrats to compromise than you could convince me to compromise my Christianity.

So lets take a recap of what we have learned: compromise is by no means easy and we will both hold our tongues the next time we criticize Washington for their partisanship. But on the other hand, compromise is indeed possible given that both parties are willing to give up part of their opinion for the greater good.

Sadly, not everyone is as open minded as we are. But we can all be open minded; we are completely capable of finding a middle ground with each other.

For more columns, read the April 10 article, Point three: Remodeling the nation’s budget.