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Moral Ambivalence Improves Politics -- And the World

AMBIVALENCE IS RARELY, if ever, cast as a positive attribute in our culture. It's associated with indecision, a lack of commitment, weakness.
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Stephanie Fairyington is a New York City based journalist who writes on gender and sexuality.

Stephanie Fairyington is a New York City based journalist who writes on gender and sexuality.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

AMBIVALENCE IS RARELY, if ever, cast as a positive attribute in our culture. It's associated with indecision, a lack of commitment, weakness. The old adage, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything," pretty much sums up our intolerance for minds in perpetual states of motion and revision.

The opposite of that axiom, though, is just as true: If you stand for something, you'll fall for everything -- everything that aligns with your pre-established set of beliefs and self-definitions. (Think of all the Fox News evangelists or the liberals who worship at the throne of Rachel Maddow.) Over-commitment to one's beliefs and identifications often shuts down, rather than opens up critical discourse.

Visit the The Boston Globe for the rest of the story.

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