To be intolerant of intolerance is itself a kind of intolerance.
If this intolerance is not allowed, we should therefore tolerate intolerance.
If intolerance is now permitted, it is acceptable to be intolerant in general, tolerant in general, intolerant of intolerance and tolerant of intolerance.
Everything is acceptable.
And what this leaves us with is that tolerance in itself is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
What matters is that each person uses their capacity for reason to decide what's good or bad in their view and promote it or oppose it respectively.
As you've noted, it doesn't take a genius to see that if we imprison people for holding extreme or controversial political views, it will result in a dystopia.
And ironically, arresting political opponents is itself an extreme position to take.
It only takes three seconds of casual thought to realise that tolerance isn't always good, and intolerance isn't always bad.
That it makes no sense to try and fight intolerance, the very thing which for all of human history has been crucial to keeping everyone healthy and safe.
Let's not tolerate poisonous flora growing near our children thank you.
Mara, I love this. Yes, I see what you're saying and pretty much am of like mind. If you haven't written about this yet, on your own substack, please do and I'll share it with my readers. OR, if you want to do a "guest post" on my substack, I think my readers (who may not track comments) would appreciate the additional layer on the topic. Thank you!
Thank you March, it's really nice to hear that you appreciate my comment.
I've tried to explain this logic to many others but unfortunately the brainwashing is often too strong.
The most common complaint is that it doesn't count as intolerance if it's to protect people. And then it takes an age to explain that all intolerance is about protecting one group from another. It's literally a synonym for conflict.
My own substack is slow going, I actually did plan to address the topic eventually, but there are a lot of posts I want to do first. I am approaching it more like writing a book than I probably should, I have drafts ready and an order in mind, but I'm not quite happy with them.
So I'd love to do a guest post instead, if you'll have me. I've read your about page and agree completely, especially about education and qualifications being overvalued.
And I shall read more of your posts to get a sense of your style.
I've never done a "guest post" before, so I have no idea what to do.
Indeed.
The true logic is as follows:
To be intolerant of intolerance is itself a kind of intolerance.
If this intolerance is not allowed, we should therefore tolerate intolerance.
If intolerance is now permitted, it is acceptable to be intolerant in general, tolerant in general, intolerant of intolerance and tolerant of intolerance.
Everything is acceptable.
And what this leaves us with is that tolerance in itself is neither a good thing nor a bad thing.
What matters is that each person uses their capacity for reason to decide what's good or bad in their view and promote it or oppose it respectively.
As you've noted, it doesn't take a genius to see that if we imprison people for holding extreme or controversial political views, it will result in a dystopia.
And ironically, arresting political opponents is itself an extreme position to take.
It only takes three seconds of casual thought to realise that tolerance isn't always good, and intolerance isn't always bad.
That it makes no sense to try and fight intolerance, the very thing which for all of human history has been crucial to keeping everyone healthy and safe.
Let's not tolerate poisonous flora growing near our children thank you.
Mara, I love this. Yes, I see what you're saying and pretty much am of like mind. If you haven't written about this yet, on your own substack, please do and I'll share it with my readers. OR, if you want to do a "guest post" on my substack, I think my readers (who may not track comments) would appreciate the additional layer on the topic. Thank you!
Thank you March, it's really nice to hear that you appreciate my comment.
I've tried to explain this logic to many others but unfortunately the brainwashing is often too strong.
The most common complaint is that it doesn't count as intolerance if it's to protect people. And then it takes an age to explain that all intolerance is about protecting one group from another. It's literally a synonym for conflict.
My own substack is slow going, I actually did plan to address the topic eventually, but there are a lot of posts I want to do first. I am approaching it more like writing a book than I probably should, I have drafts ready and an order in mind, but I'm not quite happy with them.
So I'd love to do a guest post instead, if you'll have me. I've read your about page and agree completely, especially about education and qualifications being overvalued.
And I shall read more of your posts to get a sense of your style.
I've never done a "guest post" before, so I have no idea what to do.