Has anyone got a nice phrase for "dealing with people you wouldn't normally want to deal with but you do because they perform a function that you would not want to do or are not able to do"?
I have in mind the situation in the Merchant in Venice where the Venetians tolerate the Jews, even though they dislike them, because they need them as moneylenders, since Christians were officially not allowed by the Church to collect interest (this despite the fact that countless Christian countries, including Venice, had commercial banks with networks operating all over Europe by the early Renaissance).
Best Answer
"Necessary evil" is a common description for unpleasant people or things that one is forced to deal with.