Pay Backs

The level of political diatribe is hitting new heights. The urge to paint your opposition in bold and unappealing colors has become irresistible. It used to be that you restrained yourself because, as the old saying went, ” What goes around, comes around.” Sometimes old truisms, folk wisdom, and proverbs are true. Smear me today, and you’ll get smeared tomorrow.

My first job as a practicing anthropologist was in a small city across the river from Boston. I would occasionally attend City Council meetings to hear how local issues were handled and solutions hammered out. Among the things I noticed were several City council members who regularly took much more than mere potshots at each other. I thought there must be some real grudge fights going on.

Going Along To Get Along

I found out one day that most of my suppositions on this were invalid. There was a local restaurant where everyone gathered for lunch on a regular basis. Several times, I walked in and found these councilors in the far back booths. They were chuckling, smiling, and having a pleasant conversation. But they were back at each other at the next City Council Meeting.

Eventually, I got to know the councilor from the area of the city where I worked. Over lunch one afternoon, at that same restaurant, I got a chance to ask him about the apparent contradictions. His reply was that, yes they had major disagreements, and tempers ran hot over some issues. But he said, little gets done without cooperation, and to get the city’s work done they had to compromise and work together despite the very real differences.

This explanation made sense to me, and I was later able to confirm similar behaviors with local state and Federal representatives. It was necessary to ” go along to get along.” The work just wouldn’t get done without cooperation.

I’ve seen the breakdown of this system recently. One group seems to think they can do whatever they want without the aid or cooperation of the others. Just force things through, and curse your opponents roundly.

I had asked about this exact situation of the politicians I had spoken to years ago. They were very uncomfortable with the proposition. It basically came down to a ” What goes around comes around” situation. Sooner or later, you need help and trust, and your history of cooperation becomes important.

Based on what I was told, it would seem to me that the folks in the House of Representatives and the Senate might take a bit of advice from their local equivalents. Sooner or later, you need someone in the opposition to make common cause with you. This is what I am curious about. When is the “rubber going to meet the road?”

Why? Because as one local pol put it to me – “Paybacks are a bitch!”