The choice of Burmese III: Burmese referendum or three quarters of a baby

Burma's leader urges citizens to 'crush destructive elements

The Guardian
March 28, 2008

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Gen Kyaw Hsan, briefing local media ahead of Armed Forces Day, insisted the new constitution, which reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for the military, was a good starting point. "Something is better than nothing," he said. "Having a constitution is better than having no constitution. Once we have something, we can improve it gradually step by step."

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For there are two different kinds of compromise. One kind is expressed in the old proverb, Half a loaf is better than no bread. The other kind is expressed in the story of the judgment of Solomon, which was clearly based on the realization that half a baby is worse than no baby at all. In the first instance, the boundary conditions are still being satisfied. The purpose of bread is to provide food, and half a loaf is still food. Half a baby, however, does not satisfy the boundary conditions. For half a baby is not half of a living and growing child. It is a corpse in two pieces.

(Peter Drucker in The Essential Drucker, P.248)

Three quarters of a baby is worse than no baby at all. For this is thantopsis, a realm beyond the boundary of living.