Something I think about a lot. There's a whole part of the populace that gravitated towards "centrism" and "middle ground" kind of politics. It stems from our tendency towards binary thinking. E.g. "both sides", "two extremes". But at the root of it is a desire to avoid conflict.
The phrase "avoid conflict" evokes some feelings, but mostly sounds like a good thing. If we say "conflict avoidance", that evokes a different reaction. And we can start to see that trying to find the "middle" in a conflict that needs to be resolved is often counterproductive.
The conflict between white people and non-white people. Between Owners and workers. The conflict between oppressors and those they seek to oppress. These conflicts can't be avoided. They can't be swept under the rug. They are core to our society and must be faced.
You can try to diffuse conflict or create an environment of diplomacy. But you can't avoid conflict that is central to how your community functions. That conflict will keep finding you no matter what you do. And pretending it's not there also becomes part of the conflict.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
