--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The public's continuing ambivalence about…" description: "\"The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters is all the more striking given that the political conversation on these issues has for 30 ye..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/ellen-willis-14968_aggressive_the-public-s-continuing-ambivalence-abou_514141.png" --- # The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters… ![“The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters is all the more striking given that the political conversation on these issues has for 30 years been dominated by an aggressive, radical right-wing insurgency that has achieved an influence far out of proportion to its numbers. Its potent…” quote by Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/ellen-willis-14968_aggressive_the-public-s-continuing-ambivalence-abou_514141.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/ellen-willis-14968_aggressive_the-public-s-continuing-ambivalence-abou_514141.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/ellen-willis-14968_aggressive_the-public-s-continuing-ambivalence-abou_514141.png) > “The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters is all the more striking given that the political conversation on these issues has for 30 years been dominated by an aggressive, radical right-wing insurgency that has achieved an influence far out of proportion to its numbers. Its potent secret weapon has been the guilt and anxiety about desire that inform the character of Americans regardless of ideology; appealing to those largely unconscious emotions, the right has disarmed, intimidated, paralyzed its opposition.” [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The political right exploits collective guilt and desire, using emotional manipulation to dominate cultural debates despite its small numbers. **In simple terms:** Emotions are used to control public discourse. Key Takeaway Recognize and question emotional appeals in politics. Themes politics media psychology culture emotion Mood analytical critical concerned Type essay political analysis When to use this quote - news consumption - social media debates - public rallies - personal reflection Key Concepts propaganda emotional manipulation right-wing strategy Questions to Reflect On - What emotions are being targeted in current political narratives? - How can individuals protect themselves from emotional manipulation? A Different Perspective May underestimate rational counterarguments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aggressive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggressive/) [Ambivalence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence/) [Ambivalence Cultural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambivalence-cultural-4349738/) [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Continuing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing/) [Conversation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conversation/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Ideology Appealing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology-appealing-4349737/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Insurgency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insurgency/) [Intimidated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimidated/) [Issues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/issues/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Opposition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposition/) [Paralyzed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paralyzed/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Proportion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proportion/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Right wing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-wing/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Unconscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconscious/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) [Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The struggle of democratic secularism, religious tolerance, individual freedom and feminism against authoritarian patriarchal religion, culture and morality is going on all over the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/the-struggle-of-democratic-secularism-religious-tolerance-individual/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Let's look at the Trump and Bernie Sanders insurgencies. They were basically insurgencies against the Republican and Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders made no mistake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/let-s-look-at-the-trump-and-bernie-sanders-insurgencies-they-were/) [Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/) > [Its the reality of a situation like this that when you have a large troop presence that it has the tendency to fuel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russ-feingold/its-the-reality-of-a-situation-like-this-that-when-you-have-a-large/) [Russ Feingold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russ-feingold/) > [We are facing an enormous crisis in Africa right now in terms of illegal wildlife trafficking, which is decimating animal populations, destroying local economies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah-barron/we-are-facing-an-enormous-crisis-in-africa-right-now-in-terms-of/) [David Jeremiah Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah-barron/) > [I think a lot of the people who feel out of step with contemporary society or feel that they've been left back economically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/i-think-a-lot-of-the-people-who-feel-out-of-step-with-contemporary/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [“Constructive insurgency: Is the use of legal and imaginative means of resistance to reform a system of repression. Generally through the use of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/constructive-insurgency-is-the-use-of-legal-and-imaginative-means-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am encouraged by the news today that United States special operations personnel found, identified and killed the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the operational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-fitzpatrick/i-am-encouraged-by-the-news-today-that-united-states-special/) [Mike Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-fitzpatrick/) > [The presence of American troops is fueling the insurgency in Iraq, as acknowledged by General Casey and numerous other experts, and is helping terrorist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-conyers/the-presence-of-american-troops-is-fueling-the-insurgency-in-iraq-as/) [John Conyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-conyers/) > [We'd be better off if the whole purpose of the adventure in Iraq was, say, to protect Israel or to protect the flow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/we-d-be-better-off-if-the-whole-purpose-of-the-adventure-in-iraq-was/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time... The level of activity that we see today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/i-think-we-may-well-have-some-kind-of-presence-there-over-a-period-of/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the treatment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-martin-luther-king-would-always-keep-track-of-collective/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ There \[in Afghanistan\] is also a growing insurgency threat from al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist elements, some of which comes from the tribal… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/there-in-afghanistan-is-also-a-growing-insurgency-threat-from-al/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [We must support initiatives that provide clear, concrete measures and milestones that our troops need for defeating the insurgency, building up Iraqi security forces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrod-brown/we-must-support-initiatives-that-provide-clear-concrete-measures-and/) [Sherrod Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrod-brown/) > [ \[In response to the question "Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency's strength?"\] I think so. I guess if I look back on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/in-response-to-the-question-do-you-think-that-you-underestimated-the/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Almost immediately, I remember right when Tikrit even fell, a few days after Baghdad fell, there was talks of insurgency, there was talks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farnaz-fassihi/almost-immediately-i-remember-right-when-tikrit-even-fell-a-few-days/) [Farnaz Fassihi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farnaz-fassihi/) ## More by Ellen Willis > [You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to surmise that war has a perverse appeal for the human race, nor is the attraction limited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/you-don-t-have-to-be-sigmund-freud-to-surmise-that-war-has-a-perverse/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [For democrats, it's as crucial to defend secular culture as to preserve secular law. And in fact the two projects are inseparable: When religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/for-democrats-it-s-as-crucial-to-defend-secular-culture-as-to/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [What turns me on is erotica; what turns you on is pornographic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/what-turns-me-on-is-erotica-what-turns-you-on-is-pornographic/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Some conservatives have expressed outrage that the views of professors are at odds with the views of students, as if ideas were entitled to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/some-conservatives-have-expressed-outrage-that-the-views-of/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [For the most part, Americans speak of culture and politics as if they were two separate realms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/for-the-most-part-americans-speak-of-culture-and-politics-as-if-they/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Mass consumption, advertising, and mass art are a corporate Frankenstein; while they reinforce the system, they also undermine it. By continually pushing the message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/mass-consumption-advertising-and-mass-art-are-a-corporate/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [My education was dominated by modernist thinkers and artists who taught me that the supreme imperative was courage to face the awful truth, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/my-education-was-dominated-by-modernist-thinkers-and-artists-who/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Music that boldly and aggressively laid out what the singer wanted, loved, hated — as good rock ’n’ roll did — challenged me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/music-that-boldly-and-aggressively-laid-out-what-the-singer-wanted/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Individuals bearing witness do not change history; only movements that understand their social world can do that. Movements encourage solidarity; the moral individual is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/individuals-bearing-witness-do-not-change-history-only-movements-that/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [Whatever their limitations, Freud and Marx developed complex and subtle theories of human nature grounded in their observation of individual and social behavior. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/whatever-their-limitations-freud-and-marx-developed-complex-and/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [The drug war has nothing to do with making communities livable or creating a decent future for black kids. On the contrary, prohibition is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/the-drug-war-has-nothing-to-do-with-making-communities-livable-or/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [I was a 'Big Brother' fan. I thought they were better musicians than their detractors claimed, but more to the point, technical accomplishment was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/i-was-a-big-brother-fan-i-thought-they-were-better-musicians-than/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [The Democratic power elite on some level feels delegitimized by its working-class, black and female constituencies. What it wants are the "legitimate" votes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/the-democratic-power-elite-on-some-level-feels-delegitimized-by-its/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [On one level the sixties revolt was an impressive illustration of Lenin's remark that the capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/on-one-level-the-sixties-revolt-was-an-impressive-illustration-of/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [What cultural revolutionaries do not seem to grasp is that, far from being a grass-roots art form that has been taken over by businessmen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/what-cultural-revolutionaries-do-not-seem-to-grasp-is-that-far-from/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) [Explore all 44 Ellen Willis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) ## More Aggressive quotes > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [Good girls don't hurt other people's feelings. Good girls are not overly aggressive, competitive, or boastful. Good girls please others. But what good girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jane-gilman/good-girls-don-t-hurt-other-people-s-feelings-good-girls-are-not/) [Susan Jane Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jane-gilman/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Passive...Aggressive...Pussy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-azzarello/passive-aggressive-pussy/) [Brian Azzarello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-azzarello/) > [I'm not a fan of endless mystery in storytelling - I like to know where the mythology's going; I like to get there in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kripke/i-m-not-a-fan-of-endless-mystery-in-storytelling-i-like-to-know-where/) [Eric Kripke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kripke/) > [Most conservatives - by which I mean normal people - have little conception of the aggressive and revolutionary force that confronts them. 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Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [It is deeply concerning to learn that Linda Thomas-Greenfield repeatedly praised autocratic China's aggressive and troubling expansion into Africa during a 2019 speech at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hagerty/it-is-deeply-concerning-to-learn-that-linda-thomas-greenfield/) [Bill Hagerty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hagerty/) [Browse all 1,351 Aggressive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aggressive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters is all the more striking given that the political conversation on these issues has for 30 years been dominated by an aggressive, radical right-wing insurgency that has achieved an influence far out of proportion to its numbers. 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