You are indeed confused. I was simply replying to the very generic statement "silence on a matter means either "I am happy with the status quo" or "I am too afraid to express opposition to the status quo.""

This is simply not true. I never talk politics at work, simply because it's nobody's business. My silence is not motivated by fear, and I'm often not happy with the status quo. I just don't want to talk about these topics at work.

Right, but we're talking in the context of a specific action to be silent, in which the specific action of silence occurs when someone is willing to talk about any other seemingly sensitive matter.

I'm confused when we started to generalize to all silences. Sometimes I'm silent because I'm drinking water, or I'm asleep...