User blog comment:ForestFairy/How to resolve conflict/@comment-29313037-20150821131838

Drama makes the world go 'round.

We fight with our friends and family, gossip behind the backs of others, watch our movies or shows, read our books, and ultimately, we base our lives around what other people think of us, and the social norms that society has created for us. Drama

And yet, when it comes to actually interacting with our fellow human beings, we frequently consider drama taboo, as a collective. We avoid confrontation, and we create rules to continue avoiding confrontation. And it is this aspect of political correctness, that leaves our societies spineless, and so thin-skinned, that the very thought of any criticism levied towards us, is enough to make us gasp out in pain.

Dramatization aside, the point that I am attempting to make, is that this world is not black & white, nor do we live in Utopia, where everything can be solved with a smile and handshake. Humanity is ignorant, arrogant, and outright sociopathic at times. And these groups are generally the ones with the loudest voices, and there will be times when a peaceful resolution cannot be met with these groups, amongst others.

Confrontation, in that regard, is the other side of the spectrum, where we can talk a language that they can understand, while allowing for us to put our foot down in the process, and override whatever inane drivel they are spewing out. If I avoided confrontation whenever it arose in my life, then I would not have found as much success in my life, I would not have ended an abusive family relationship, and there would have been a lot of truths that I would have never learned.

And the hard truth is that neutrality is often ineffective. Anger, at the very least, allows for us to show our innermost thoughts, which exposes the roots of our frustrations. Neutrality, in principle and in practice, is dishonest, and I know as an administrator across many wiki communities, on and off Wikia, I have always had an ethical dilemma every time I apply good faith to situations that quite frankly, do not deserve good faith.

So thank you for having the wisdom to say "...conflict in itself is positive," as you have earned a lot of respect from me for stating that.