Humankind is obsessed with stories. Since the dawn of time, the earliest form of history was stories. Stories with villains, sidekicks and, most importantly, heroes—heroes that always succeed no matter the circumstances. In these stories, there is always a solution no matter the problem—a magical and perfect solution that solves any problem, kills any monster, the perfect simple solution to all difficult problems.

The silver bullet for werewolves.

The wooden stake for vampires.

In stories there is always a way to succeed, and it is never truly difficult to find. Real life, however, rarely works the way it does in stories. Although people may wish for a simple solution to the difficult choices that face society, there isn’t one.

Avoiding conflict is a common approach to dealing with problems. People hope that the issue will work itself out so they will not be forced into a confrontation. People hope that the situation has a magical, simple solution and will be quickly shut down and resolved.

Reasons for avoiding conflict vary from person to person, but these typically result from a mix of emotions and problems. Reluctance to face issues causes immense problems down the road. It can be detrimental and cause lack of success later in life.

According to the Washington Post, a study of CEO’s revealed that fear of conflict is something many have but will not admit to.

Sophomore Elliana Nordhaus believes that people are obsessed with avoiding conflict with an instantaneous solution.

“People tend to take the easy way out,” Nordhaus said.

This desire to avoid conflict for the hope that one may find a better solution is not working. When leaders cannot make decisions because they want to be accepted or want to solve the problem immediately rather than through difficult or controversial decisions, organizations, and society as a whole, can be put at risk.

Lawmakers who avoid issues that are controversial in favor of bans are not part of the solution but part of the problem. Lawmakers like the ones that, rather than fostering healthy debate, chose to ban two Michigan representatives for using the word “vagina” in a debate about reproductive health.

In 2012, two female politicians were banned from addressing the Michigan house of representatives following one’s use of the word ”vagina” and the other’s argument for regulation of vasectomies during the debate of a controversial anti-abortion bill. Rather than address the controversy, it was chosen to avoid any problems by banning these women.

Avoidance is not a solution. It just furthers the problem. There is no such thing as a silver bullet and it’s time to accept that. Difficult decisions are the ones that need to be made and it’s time to stop waiting for a magical solution and start making them.

Be it gun control, reproductive health, or anything else with a stigma surrounding it, problems must be confronted regardless of their sensitivity or whether or not one likes talking about them.

Junior Cale Wolf advocates for making difficult decisions for long term solutions.

“I think America [needs to be] set on gradual solutions that fix things in the long term,” Wolf said. “Like in APUSH, FDR’s New Deal was designed to fix things in the long term.”

Although controversial, the New Deal program represents the kind of hard, head-on work necessary in today’s America.

Avoidance is no longer a solution.

Waiting for a silver bullet is no longer an acceptable excuse for being stagnant.