I swear we are becoming more and more intolerant at the moment. Not just in this country, but in many countries right across the globe.
I’m not going to single any one person or society out – no, not even He Who Shall Remain Nameless – but it feels at times as though we are surrounded by hatred and bigotry.
And so, in despair…
Why?
Why?
Because a woman’s place is in the home
That’s what God created her for.
Men are in charge.
Why?
Because this is our country
And we don’t want no people of colour here
Go back to your own place.
Why?
Because it’s not our fault your country’s a hole.
It was okay when we gave it back.
Bugger off home.
Why?
Because we didn’t have any of this climate change nonsense
When we were children.
Load of old bullshit.
Why?
Because this is a Christian country,
Even if we never go to church,
Or practise what it says.
Why?
Just because!
We don’t need to justify it.
And we don’t need no liberal lefties interfering,
Either.
That’s why.
Mick Canning 
Brilliantly expressed, Mick. Thank you!
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Thanks, Stuart. I really wish there was no longer any need to express these things.
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Aye, prejudice is the result of poor education, religious dogma, and poor funding for local infrastructure. It’ll be a while before these ills are dealt with, I fear.
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Sounds like the preferred policy of certain places I won’t mention.
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Oh Mick. This is the phenomenon now. Sad reality. It happens everywhere 😦
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It’s incredibly sad, Nurul. And it just seems to be getting worse.
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I suspect that the self-chosen isolative blanket that the internet provides invites many to project their insecurities and discomfiture at their own circumstances out into the world.
Karl Popper on the paradox of tolerance:
‘Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant.’
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I don’t know when Karl Popper said this, but it would seem to anticipate the rise of He Who Shall Not Be Named. It sounds to me like another way of saying that free speech is to be protected, other than the well-known example of not shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, or the promotion of hate speech, and seems a wise conclusion.
Unfortunately, it is not just the internet providing a platform for this form of rhetoric now. It is becoming mainstream in a way I didn’t think I would ever see. It really does begin to bear comparison with the rantings of the National Socialists in 1930’s Germany, which is not a comparison I would choose to use lightly.
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It was written in 1945. Here’s a link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Society_and_Its_Enemies
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He wasn’t particularly impressed with Hegel, was he, Hariod?
I think we just have to challenge the lies and hypocrisies wherever we come across them. Otherwise…well, we’re sunk.
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This sums it up, Mick. I think this hatred and bigotry has just been simmering beneath the surface and now that some high profile leaders have been placed in power, it’s all burst to the surface. And it’s terrifying. There is no middle anymore just the far extremes.
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Exactly that, Meg. No middle, no compromise, no restraint, and no respect.
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And it’s not sustainable. We are on the path to destruction or revolution. I’m regularly appalled at the people I never expected to support someone like “Fake President” just because they like the economic policies. Seems they’re willing to ignore the rest. Horrible.
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I’ve had a similar conversation elsewhere on this today, Meg. I think people feel they have now been given permission to voice all of those bad things they knew they shouldn’t say before, because those in ‘authority’ are saying them and getting away with it, even when they are called out.
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That’s it exactly. And it pulls reasonable people to one extreme or the other. We are in for a turbulent time. I remember thinking back in 2016, that once the tiger showed his stripes, he’d soon be done for. But my optimism has grown dim.
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Mine too, Meg. It seems the more outrageous his comments, the more his base like him. Nothing short of him being tried for some sort of felony (and, God knows, there appears to be plenty of that!) seems likely to take him down.
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It must be something absolutely concrete, too. Or he’ll wiggle out of it!
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Excellent and thought-provoking post, Mick. That “why” is such an important question, with–I suspect–a number of complex answers. Amidst the discouragement as we see the rise of hate, fear, and intolerance are voices of inclusion and tolerance. Those are the voices that must prevail.
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They do, Donna. The difficulty they have seems to be their being heard above the cacophony of hatred.
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Good for you, Mick. Strong stuff, well-written.
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Thanks, Robert. It’s awful that I feel I have to.
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It’s so sad. You are spot on with your words
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Harsh reality of these days.
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Sadly so.
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I don’t know that intolerance is increasing, insomuch as the willingness by certain parties to freely express what they’ve felt all along. They have always been among us, but now they aren’t embarrassed by their own behavior – a behavior they used to condemn, because certain “role models” suggest assholery is acceptable.
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Precisely that, I fear. A lot of the intolerance was kept internal before, as people understood it wasn’t considered acceptable to voice it (or think it). Now they see those in positions of authority displaying the worst traits and decide it’s okay if they do, too.
But I think it actually increases, as those who don’t think for themselves see and hear all this and assume it must be what they should do, too.
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Brilliantly written. Any insight into the picture?
It looks like an image of Lord buddha, but is it a broken statue?
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It is. A small one in our garden, fractured by the frost.
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Oh! I thought it had been deliberately broken by someone. Nice to know it was natural.
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