The Paradox of Tolerance

[SerendipityJane]

I saw this, and thought of you

That's true isn't it? Look where "be kind" has got us?

We should never allow tolerance make us pretend things that are untrue or let people stop us stating truths.

It's why it's so worrying that platforms such as Twitter are so lax, they allow much aggressive language and direct threats to women.

This is why they need to frame everything as "be kind", "be inclusive". That way they can attack people and their boundaries as intolerent, bigoted, exclusive.

Have I got this right? You are saying that transwomen should be more tolerant of the needs and wishes of women?

I agree 100%

Yep! Anyone who threatens free speech, anyone who's trying to introduce blasphemy laws (whether directly or with ever-expanding hate speech regulations) anyone who doxxes and tries to remove other people's livelihood for their views, anyone who tries to get scientific research censored for not agreeing with them, anyone who responds to those who disagree with them with intimidation and physical violence, is a threat to a tolerant society because they are undermining the principles by which a tolerant society operates.

I think it's notable how agents of totalitarian extremist movements always go after women and women's rights first.

It is an argument for freedom of speech isn't it? Everyone gets to make their case, and present to the "marketplace of ideas" as I've heard it called. Bad ideas are argued away by reason, logic, and sense rather than censorship. It is what should happen in a liberal society. It is markedly what is not happening now, and the reason is arguably Twitter.

It is an argument for freedom of speech isn't it?

Not the way the cartoon presents it. The cartoon says that "Any movement that preaches intolerance and persecution must be outside the law." So that suggests we should outlaw any movement that preaches intolerance - but who gets to decide what intolerance is? Trans activists persecute feminists and say we should be silenced. So perhaps we should outlaw trans activism. Yet much as I despise these people I can't believe it's a good idea to make their ideology illegal.

They of course would claim that we should be outlawed, because they claim we are intolerant and deny their right to exist. So where does that leave us?

"Popper failed to recognise that in democratic politics, gathering public support takes precedence over the pursuit of truth. In other areas, such as science and industry, the impulse to impose one's views on the world encounters the resistance of external reality. But in politics the electorate's perception of reality can be easily manipulated. As a result, political discourse, even in democratic societies, does not necessarily lead to a better understanding of reality.
....This insight should lead us not to abandon the concept of open society, but to revise and reaffirm the case for it. We must abandon Popper's tacit assumption that political discourse aims at a better understanding of reality and reintroduce it as an explicit requirement. The separation of powers, free speech and free elections alone cannot ensure open society; a strong commitment to the pursuit of truth is also required.
----One influential technique .... simply reverses meanings and turns reality on its head.
....Another technique is transference: accusing opponents of having motives or using methods that characterise the accuser himself.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/nov/11/frompoppertoroveandback