Deal offers reasons for hope

I wasn't worried. I had full confidence that Congress wouldn't send us over the "fiscal cliff." It would have been political suicide, let alone bad for the rest of us.

In case you haven't yet read about the basic changes, the legislation caps itemized deductions for individuals making $250,000 and married couples making $300,000; it also increases the tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for individuals making $400,000 and couples making $450,000. They still have to work on spending cuts.

Neither side is happy; that's healthy. In fact that's what the framers intended. The founding fathers had a greater challenge - more issues of contention and a nation's birth at stake - and what resulted happened only with compromise. Like today's Congress neither side was happy in 1787.

"Mr. President, I confess that I do not entirely approve this Constitution... I am not sure I will ever approve it. For having lived so long I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment and pay better respect to the judgment of others... The opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good." - Benjamin Franklin, Sept. 17, 1787, Constitutional Convention closing address.

Since George Washington, each president has begun his term with an uncertain national and international future, yet with reasons to hope. Since 1996, each term has also begun with a forecast of global trends to aid the president's vision, drafted by experts worldwide and published by the National Intelligence Council. Less intended to be predictions measured right or wrong, the report is designed to stimulate thinking and policy discussions. The newest, "Global Trends 2030," is generally upbeat but attempts to correct bias in previous forecasts: inadequate attention to new ideologies.

It also suggests a spirit of compromise.

The report predicts that terrorism will fade away (and already is, slowly). It predicts better health care and a growing middle class. It predicts a United States which learns to share power, by necessity, in an interconnected, polycentric world.

This in part is born, as so often is the case, of scarcity. According to the quadrennial report, shortages of food, water, and energy, increasing by 35, 40 and 50 percent respectively, will motivate cooperation in other arenas. Potable water, for example, is ample on Earth, but not where populations are concentrated. As time goes by more people flock to urban areas in greater concentrations, so regional supply can't accommodate demand. The fix will be impossible without that element most basic to all successful human relationships: the satisfactions of mutual need through compassionate listening, from citizen to national leaders.

"(N)ever lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don't share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise." - Colin Powell

For the full report see DNI.gov.

Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholehjo@hotmail.com.