Proposals to resolve problem situations and conflicts may be put forward with a view to gaining advantages for the proposer rather than to alleviate the situation. Such proposals may even be announced to create the impression that the proposer is acting in good faith but without any belief that they would finally prove acceptable or be implemented. Such token proposals become a means of gaining time and creating the illusion of responsible management of crises. When both parties employ such techniques as a matter of course, this breeds cynicism in policy-making circles and false hopes on the part of the public, leading progressively to systematic alienation.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies (Groucho Marx).