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The paradox of tolerance
(lemmy.nz)
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this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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Why are we so tied to the word tolerance specifically? Decency, kindness, courtesy, and empathy seem to be more what were all aiming for anyway.
Is it cuz tolerance is the bare minimum? (This is a genuine question)
Tolerance is useful because it conveys the notion of restraining from persecuting someone for something you specifically and perhapse strongly dislike (as long as it doesnt cross certain lines). It makes it unacceptable to use state or social power without a reasoned argument for actual harm.
So much of this shit is stacked on top of established cultural and social mores anyway.
Case in point, "Decency" can mean a lot of different things to different people. Is this about self-policing your speech and dress? Or extending charity to your neighbors? Or simply staying silent so as not to appear rude? Or being an outspoken crusader in the face of rudeness and impropriety?
Tolerance is the benchmark for an egalitarian society. And the Hitler/Nazi reference is intended to illustrate the perils of showing tolerance for a foreign belief system, which queues up the "paradox" in question. If your goal is egalitarianism, how do you police against anti-egalitarian sentiment dressed up as "just another point of view"?
And who gets to decide what gets tolerated, anyway? Because any road you take can get you back to fascist tendency.
Is "intolerance of the intolerant" an excuse to wipe up a mob against a foreign religion you find distasteful? Is it a reason to break up social events or try and heckle opposition politicians or vandalize property? Or is it just a vibe you express when prompted, while otherwise allowing the "intolerable" ideology to persist?
This line of logic also doesn't really answer the hard questions, like, "What if the cops are in the club that you find intolerant?" Or "What if the national media club is promoting intolerant beliefs?" How do you refuse to tolerate the powerful, the wealthy, and the socially insulated?
To be fair I get the idea of the comic.
It's more about how the word tolerance is a bad descriptor of what we're after, and honestly, the Right can tell. They know we CANT tolerate them, and jumping through hoops to justify the use of the WORD tolerance is absurd to me.
Obviously this isn't very important in the grand scheme, it just kinda annoys me
Tolerance is such a low barrier to pass - being as basic as "do nothing" - that is boundary acceptable even for the Right, because to it does not obligate anybody to act (in favor of others) and thus fits even those with a "what's in it for me" who will indeed do nothing if there's nothing in it for them whilst still being within the tolerant side of it.
I assume your referring to the Liberal Right and not the Conservative Right
I would guess that is why. We should push for greater ideals, as you say, but I will begrudgingly accept tolerance as the minimum.
One of these people replying here supports a regime that forcibly "reeducates" minorities and ban teaching of their languages, tolerating only a uniform national identity.
The irony, right?