We are told, it could always be worse. If one ruler is a better option than another, the compromise is that we should be ruled, but by a less bad gang of murderous thieves. Such pragmatic reasoning can also expand to acts of mass murder; a genocide is a lesser evil in particular contexts. For those who consider themselves principled, it can be a seduction to drop their dignified convictions.

Democracy thrives with compromise because one political party is generally more despised than another at any given moment. The promises of one can be as repulsive just as the promises of the other are appealing (assuming there's much of a difference at all). It is not uncommon for people to vote out of spite or as a protest, whether for a smaller party or against the current ruling party. Whatever the outcome, it ensures that government remains, validating it through the process of elections. The appearance of choice is a powerful thing, even if it is understood to be limited. The pragmatic approach is to pick the lesser of two evils.

The nature of compromise in politics is to seek a supposedly pragmatic approach, or to ally oneself with a supposed enemy of an enemy. There are many ideologies that destroy individual liberty, including some that use the language of freedom. The pragmatic approach itself becomes a form of political ideology based on the assumption that something is done for a greater good or to accomplish a great feat. For example, public works projects are often used to justify central planning as it can be an effective way of developing infrastructure while "creating" jobs, along with the "seen" benefits to the community; free market alternatives are unimaginable to the coercive minded. When it comes to imperialism, people seek the greater good for a civilization. The chauvinistic bias that one race or group is superior extends its supremacy to "help" those inferior by subjugating, converting, and eradicating them so that they no longer exist as savages.

Politics and the nature of government policy have a tendency of ignoring morality or principles despite claims that they stand for both. In the case of imperial ambitions, the conquest of others can be seen as an expedient means to secure greatness, security, and wealth for ones own tribe. When it comes to mass murder and even genocide, one can find the pragmatic approach meshing with a form of delusional utopianism. A free market does not satisfy the ambitions and self-interested desires of the central planners who seek glory or empire for themselves.