I don't agree with this for the most part. The "other side" of many issues are rabid ideologues that can't be compromised with and any attempt to do so just cedes ground for the next round. One side, in effect turns the other side into the same thing. You put 10 kids in a room and walk away, one will end up with all of the lunch money all of the time. It is human nature. Resisting the bully does not make you the bully, but compromise usually has you bend the knee while the bully stands on your hand.
If your point is that the people in charge of the aquarium trade are children, then I mostly agree. Rabid Ideologues don't get their way without help. They need the other side to be ignorant, standoffish and otherwise fools. If the industry does not know how to deal with this, then they might need to hire some help. So far, the industry fools from ReefBuilders, and the like, are the like are more like useful idiots to the other side with their opinions and articles. What they want is a refusal or to stand fast and hope that they get everything... and they will since they are more organized, have more resolve and are usually better funded.
I don't agree with the notion that bullies always win. If myself, or any of my girls were in a room, nobody would walk away with any body else's lunch money. Although we are not children, you can stand up for yourself and others without taking everything. We could get all the other 9 to go against the one, which most good leaders can do.
I had about 4 hours of phone calls with this whole stupid Banggai thing and all that was wanted to begin with was some more oversight into wild collection (a merge of the different world org finding and opinions) and some accountability for some people in the US who KNOWINGLY imported wild fish as aqua cultured. The inability of the aquarium industry to compromise or negotiate led to a potential full-blown ban - who knows where this is going to end up, but negotiation was the desire and did not happen. Soooooo stupid. There are people on this board who deny this, but I have seen some evidence to show that these folks were not lying. The industry are morons, IMO. Sucks that the hobbyists will pay the price for it. I guess that in the end if more people want a ban than a fish, then that is the price of democracy... we can always move to another country.