Opinion : The 80/20 principle and the Wall Street protests

Take the average sporting event. Let’s say it’s a football game and you have crowds for both teams of roughly the same size. The vast, vast, VAST majority of both groups of fans (say, 80 percent) are enthusiastic, sportsmanlike, hope for a great game, and want to cheer their side on to victory, even if the score is just 7-6.

Then you have the minority of both groups of fans (the other 20 percent). They are the ones who either have been tailgating for four hours before the game, or just left the bars to come the stadium. They are the ones who want their team to win 77-0, and if they don’t, they will spend the entire game screaming at the officials, their team’s coaches, the other team’s coaches, and even at their own players (even if the parents of those players are sitting right in front of them). They don’t want to just win, they want it ALL!!!

These are the crazy drunks.

Sadly, the crazy drunks are the ones who usually get the most notice. Generally, loud obnoxious people get the most notice. Why? Well, duh; they are the loudest and most obnoxious. And, sadly, the other 80 percent of the crowd rarely does anything about them, because, well, they’re crazy drunks and no one wants to mess with them.

For the last couple of years, we have been hearing a lot from the crazy drunks on right side of the political spectrum. They wear tri-corner hats with little tea bags on them, they carry guns to town hall meetings and they absolutely, positively refuse to compromise on ANY issue. This includes gay marriage, taxes, immigration, unions, religion, you name it. And if you DARE to question them, you are a heathen un-American, who thinks people should be allowed to marry animals. Heck, you might even think President Obama is a Christian and was born in this country.

Well, guess what? After two years of the crazy drunks on the right side of the stadium having their say, recently, the crazy drunks on the left side of the stadium have started screaming back. Sick of union-busting corporate greed, a tax code that gives the biggest breaks to the richest one percent of the population, takes a “let them eat cake” attitude toward struggling families in America, and a government stuck in an uncompromising gridlock, the Occupy Wall Street movement began. It has now spread to Occupy Washington, Occupy St. Louis, Occupy (insert latest location here). And they don’t want to compromise on their side, either.

And what’s really funny is that you know who is the MOST upset at the new crazy drunks? The crazy drunks who started the argument, over on the right side of the field. And WOW, are they mad. How DARE someone question our values, they say? How DARE someone question corporations, because they produce your iPhone, shirts, cars, cement you walk on, the granola you shove in your mouth and pollute the air you breathe and water you drink. They hadn’t expected this. And they are mad. While they showed up at town hall meetings in funny hats and toting guns, the Occupy movement is going to start showing up at town hall meetings wearing tie-dye and toting bongs.

But we’re forgetting something here. See, we’ve just been talking about the crazy drunks. We are forgetting about the 80 percent of the crowd on both sides of the stadium that actually have nothing to do with the crazy drunks and really want nothing to do with the crazy drunks. We might see their point, but their methods are just too weird. And, we like compromise.

Recently, I read a comment from someone who I consider very smart, but this actually disappointed me. They said, “I am tired of politicians who compromise. We have to have people who stick to their guns.”

See, that’s the problem. Democracy doesn’t work without compromise. Our greatest presidents of both parties recognized this fact. The greatest leaders of Congress have recognized this. But right now, we are in an era without compromise. And why is that? Because the 80 percent is too scared of the 20 percent to do anything about it.

The reality of America today is a scary one. Our economy is in the tank. People are unemployed, and jobs are scarce. Houses have had “For Sale” signs in front of them for so long they almost look like lawn decorations and car lots are bloated with inventory that can’t be moved. And the irresponsible practices of banks in the first eight years of this century have forced changes in lending that make it difficult for anyone without Warren Buffett-like credit to buy anything.

But we can’t seem to get anything done. Congress has dug in its heels and refuses to compromise. The Iowa Legislature has dug in its heels and refuses to compromise. It has become a national trend; the 80 percent of lawmakers who actually want to make a difference are getting shouted down by the 20 percent that refuses to compromise. The people who just want to win are getting shouted down by the people who want to win, 77-0. And now, we have crazy drunks on both sides of the stadium which is only going to make matters worse.

It is time for the 80 percent to stand up. It is time to say that we are tired of people who only want their own way and won’t listen to anyone else’s ideas. It is time to tell politicians who are too cowardly to openly debate the issues that affect our nation or state to find another line of work. It is time for all of the 80 percent of on sides to stand up and tell the 20 percent to sit down and shut up.

President Obama has been accused on both sides of either being too radical or not being radical enough, when in fact he has been the model of compromise. And by and large, that’s what we want him to do. Right now there is a big fight for the Republican nomination for president. What is scary is that the majority of the candidates are from crazy drunk part of the crowd (some of them from the REALLY crazy drunk part). But what is heartening for our nation is that the ONE candidate that is from the 80 percent is leading in most polls and probably will win. While one of the crazy drunks might take the Iowa Caucuses, face facts, folks; Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president, and he is for compromise. Chris Christie wanted no part of that dumpster fire, and Sarah Palin realized there were enough crazy drunks running that her voice would get lost in the crowd.

The reality of the situation is simple. The 80 percent has to win. There can be no question here. The 80 percent simply has to win. We have to marginalize the minority and allow our elected representatives to do their jobs without fear of reprisal from the radicals on either side. If we don’t, if we allow those who refuse to debate or refuse to compromise to win, things will only get worse. We must tell those who don’t want to be part of the solution that they are part of the problem and we need to vote them out. We need to move forward to create jobs, repair our infrastructure, improve our schools and turn our nation around.

But we can only do that if we are willing to compromise. If we allow the crazy drunks to win, we all lose. Don’t let them win, America; this is too important. Don’t let the bad guys win.