• intensely_human
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    2 months ago

    The “paradox of tolerance” only exists because people think “tolerance” is a universal good.

    If you don’t start with that (utterly asinine) assumption, there’s no paradox.

    Tolerate a guy beating his dog to death? No that’s not what the “tolerance” aspect of a tolerance society is.

    “Tolerance” as a cultural feature or a policy has never referred to the tolerance of all things. It’s tolerance for race, religion, languages, etc.

    The whole time, we’ve been intolerant of murder, theft, etc. The whole paradox comes out of a sloppy willful misinterpretation of the word in the first place.

    It’s like a three year old concluding that “got your nose” is a paradox because they reached up and felt their nose after mommy got their nose.