The middle is a point equidistant from two poles. That’s it. There is nothing inherently virtuous about being neither here nor there. Buried in this is a false equivalency of ideas, what you might call the “good people on both sides” phenomenon.
The middle is a point equidistant from two poles. That’s it. There is nothing inherently virtuous about being neither here nor there. Buried in this is a false equivalency of ideas, what you might call the “good people on both sides” phenomenon.
It makes you feel crazy sometimes, the moral certainty. It is so jarring to have considered a situation so thoroughly and know where you stand only to have someone else reject the argument wholecloth based on saving a few cents right now.
It can make you feel like you must be the wrong one, everyone else appears to be able to just go about their day. Ultimately, for some of us, compromise can mean death, or just a more societally acceptable form of persecution.
As an aside, her mom was my “academic team” coach in college, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She taught me a lot.