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~-WhiteFire-
Trying to post the best of my stories and artwork here these days, especially since my website is FUBAR and I've been too lazy to replace it.
I also post stories to SoFurry (once YiffStar):
http://whitefire-sondergaard.sofurry.com/
I don't respond to every watch or favorite. Sorry. I'd probably respond to more shouts if there was a respond button on em. :P
I also post stories to SoFurry (once YiffStar):
http://whitefire-sondergaard.sofurry.com/
I don't respond to every watch or favorite. Sorry. I'd probably respond to more shouts if there was a respond button on em. :P
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Comments Earned: 737
Comments Made: 797
Journals: 10
Comments Made: 797
Journals: 10
Featured Journal
Price of Tolerating Intolerance
3 years ago
A guiding principal of Tapestries' administration is the Paradox of Tolerance. To quote Wikipedia's entry on it: "The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant is eventually seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Karl Popper described it as the seemingly paradoxical idea that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance."
This does not just apply in authority figures, however. Authority figures are in fact the least capable of combating intolerance and hate. At the point they can deal with it, it's usually by punishment or exclusion from society, which does not cure the root of the problem. It simply shoves the problem out of sight.
No, instead, the responsibility for maintaining a tolerant society is vigilant intolerance of intolerance by the society as a whole. It must be denounced for what it is when it is seen, not ignored. Being intolerant must be made uncomfortable, and unwelcome. I do not mean calling out people in public about it, however. I mean calling out the people you care about privately about it. Friends and loved ones have the best chance of turning someone away from such idea. Of discrediting those ideas. Not some random person in a crowd. Not through public shaming which is the only tools authority figures have.
To have any chance of success it must be handled thoughtfully. It must be pointed out how they are leaning into intolerance with out being aggressive and harassing. It is a careful dance to disagree with the message while not making the person you are, after all, trying to help feel attacked. That will only result in them retreating to those that agree blindly with their rhetoric, to their echo chambers.
I know that comes at a cost. I have myself lost friends and loved ones over calling them out on their hateful speech. It makes me reluctant. I do not do it as much as I should. But I must try. Because failure to act has a very high cost. Both for the society I live in, and for myself.
When someone speaks out against an identity group be it a gender or gender identity, a race, a religion, or any other means of separating one human from another, and the people who's opinions they care about do not speak out against it. They feel validated. One has to simply look to what happens when a politician fails to denounce a hate group. That group takes it as support and cheers them on.
It does not stop there, however. From that point you are pressured to defend them. It starts with "no really they are a nice person." Then "they were victimized by someone from that group, so it's UNDERSTANDABLE". Then it becomes, "They were victimized by that groups so they HAVE THE RIGHT TO." Then on to shunning people that call your friend of loved one out. Then... Then it becomes you joining in. This is one of the most common doorways to intolerance. Siding with people you care about, until, you have forgotten that what they are doing is wrong and do it yourself.
Failing to act and refusing to take part has it's own cost. You watch your friend or loved one slide further and further into intolerance and hate as their echo chambers egg them on, and a lack of push back leaves the slope wide open. Until you can't stand what they have become. Or they even decry you as part of the perceived problem because you won't speak out as they do. In the end if enough people fail to act, the society you belong to itself slides into it, just as the individual had, and you will find yourself on the outside. Wondering what happened.
The price of speaking out against intolerance is high. It always has been. But the price of not doing so is much, much worse.
- WhiteWizard aka WhiteFire aka Kerrie
This does not just apply in authority figures, however. Authority figures are in fact the least capable of combating intolerance and hate. At the point they can deal with it, it's usually by punishment or exclusion from society, which does not cure the root of the problem. It simply shoves the problem out of sight.
No, instead, the responsibility for maintaining a tolerant society is vigilant intolerance of intolerance by the society as a whole. It must be denounced for what it is when it is seen, not ignored. Being intolerant must be made uncomfortable, and unwelcome. I do not mean calling out people in public about it, however. I mean calling out the people you care about privately about it. Friends and loved ones have the best chance of turning someone away from such idea. Of discrediting those ideas. Not some random person in a crowd. Not through public shaming which is the only tools authority figures have.
To have any chance of success it must be handled thoughtfully. It must be pointed out how they are leaning into intolerance with out being aggressive and harassing. It is a careful dance to disagree with the message while not making the person you are, after all, trying to help feel attacked. That will only result in them retreating to those that agree blindly with their rhetoric, to their echo chambers.
I know that comes at a cost. I have myself lost friends and loved ones over calling them out on their hateful speech. It makes me reluctant. I do not do it as much as I should. But I must try. Because failure to act has a very high cost. Both for the society I live in, and for myself.
When someone speaks out against an identity group be it a gender or gender identity, a race, a religion, or any other means of separating one human from another, and the people who's opinions they care about do not speak out against it. They feel validated. One has to simply look to what happens when a politician fails to denounce a hate group. That group takes it as support and cheers them on.
It does not stop there, however. From that point you are pressured to defend them. It starts with "no really they are a nice person." Then "they were victimized by someone from that group, so it's UNDERSTANDABLE". Then it becomes, "They were victimized by that groups so they HAVE THE RIGHT TO." Then on to shunning people that call your friend of loved one out. Then... Then it becomes you joining in. This is one of the most common doorways to intolerance. Siding with people you care about, until, you have forgotten that what they are doing is wrong and do it yourself.
Failing to act and refusing to take part has it's own cost. You watch your friend or loved one slide further and further into intolerance and hate as their echo chambers egg them on, and a lack of push back leaves the slope wide open. Until you can't stand what they have become. Or they even decry you as part of the perceived problem because you won't speak out as they do. In the end if enough people fail to act, the society you belong to itself slides into it, just as the individual had, and you will find yourself on the outside. Wondering what happened.
The price of speaking out against intolerance is high. It always has been. But the price of not doing so is much, much worse.
- WhiteWizard aka WhiteFire aka Kerrie
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