Governing establishments have always manipulated tolerance within the general population, particularly tolerance which fails to distinguish between better and worse for ordinary citizens.
Today we might add politically-promoted tolerance which fails to distinguish between better and worse for voters. Or tolerance which fails to distinguish between better and worse for political norms in a healthy democracy.
It isn't a new problem. For example, this D.H. Lawrence quote about two of his fictional characters, Kate and Owen touring post-revolutionary Mexico.
Kate sat trying to sew, but her hand trembled. She could not get the bull-ring out of her mind, and something felt damaged in her inside.
She straightened herself, and sighed. She was really very angry, too, with Owen. He was naturally so sensitive, and so kind. But he had the insidious modern disease of tolerance. He must tolerate everything, even a thing that revolted him. He would call it Life! He would feel he had lived this afternoon. Greedy even for the most sordid sensations.
Whereas she felt as if she had eaten something which was giving her ptomaine poisoning. If that was life!
D.H. Lawrence – The Plumed Serpent (1926)
Kate is disgusted by the bull fight, the behaviour of the crowd and contemptuous of the posturing matadors but her anger isn’t about bull fights. She is angry with Owen’s acceptance of it all and his supine adoption of the insidious modern disease of tolerance. A century later we have come to know it too well.
7 comments:
Unfortunate phrasings (The Times):
If Sydney Sweeney is converting to Judaism, I have some tips.
Tolerance of wrong in terms of our underlying culture is no virtue. The complication is when other parts of Europe are cruel or gauche.
dearieme - they must be innocent bods at the Times.
James - it's becoming worse too, as if the language doesn't matter, only the sentiments.
It all seemed to stem from the increasing tendency of people thirty or forty years ago, to chide others with the expression "don't judge'.
I believe that tolerance and respect are indicators of a sound society - but tolerance and respect include the idea that some things should not be tolerated or respected. And that's where the progressives try to gloss over the intolerable and the unrespectable.
Which increases the tensions in ordinary society because ordinary people see others' unacceptable behaviour being 'tolerated' whilst they still feel held to higher standards.
Tammly - yes I remember that. "Don't be so judgemental" was often supposed to shoot down an argument without the need for sound counter to the argument. Yet we must judge.
DJ - I agree, it's a matter of standards. At least some conflict between standards is healthy, but the involvement of coercive politics damages the healthy aspect and also damages worthwhile boundaries which are easy to parody but still worthwhile.
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