There are way too many people out there that have thrown up their hands and tolerate the destruction of a way of life and the country. (Not something I would ever consider)
There is a paradox of tolerance at work….
The paradox of tolerance, a theory that challenges a society’s ability to defend democracy from within, is at the heart of the political turmoil plaguing the United States today. The idea, first articulated by philosopher Karl Popper, suggests that a tolerant society must be intolerant of intolerance itself, or else the intolerant will exploit that tolerance to dismantle the system from within. The United States is facing a stark test of this paradox as extremism and hate groups gain traction, exploiting the very liberties that protect democratic life.
The past few decades have seen the steady rise of groups that thrive on division, hate, and violence. From white nationalist organizations to conspiracy-driven militias like those associated with QAnon, these movements increasingly occupy the mainstream political conversation. At their core, these ideologies aim not only to challenge the social order but to dismantle the democratic principles of equality and justice. They are not just seeking to make their voices heard—they are attempting to redefine the terms of the social contract, eroding the shared values that have historically bound Americans together.
Consider the 2017 Charlottesville rally, where white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and other far-right extremists marched in the streets under the banner of “Unite the Right.” The violence that erupted, culminating in the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer, was a chilling reminder that these movements are not merely fringe elements but potent forces that can stoke real, deadly consequences. The response from certain political figures and public figures, including the president, was a horrifying moment in American politics. Rather than denouncing these groups unequivocally, there was a reluctance to take a firm stand against intolerance, allowing the seeds of hate to grow unchecked. In this moment, the U.S. was at the crossroads of the paradox of tolerance—its commitment to free speech and political expression directly collided with the need to protect democracy from those who would destroy it.
The question then becomes: How much tolerance is too much? Can a society truly remain open and free while it allows the propagation of ideas that actively undermine freedom itself? The answer is, unequivocally, no. When the principles of liberty are manipulated to spread hate and division, tolerance becomes not a virtue but a tool of destruction. The societal contract must be protected from those who seek to exploit it for their own gain, and that requires setting firm boundaries on what is considered acceptable within a democratic society.
Let me reiterate…..paradox of tolerance….The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept suggesting that if a society extends tolerance to those who are intolerant, it risks enabling the eventual dominance of intolerance, thereby undermining the very principle of tolerance.
You can see the paradox everywhere.
- Online communities that tolerate every voice until no reasonable ones remain.
- Workplaces where “all ideas are valid” slowly turn into echo chambers.
- Governments that either over-police or under-protect, losing legitimacy both ways.
So is our tolerance of what is happening making all things worse?
Just wondering
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Tolerance and lazy acceptance always makes thing worse. We need to be intolerant, stand up and protest, get out on the streets, organise a general strike. Refuse to obey. I did all that when I was young. Now it is up to today’s young people to stop playing video games and scrolling Instagram, because I am too old now. Otherwise, it will be too late to change things once you ‘wake up’. You will be servants of the system, unable to change your futures.
Best wishes, Pete.
Pete ‘refuse to obey’ says it all for me. chuq
I understand the point you’re making, and I think the paradox of tolerance is exactly why so many people feel uneasy about what’s happening right now. A society cannot endlessly tolerate movements or behavior that openly reject democratic principles, because eventually those forces begin using the freedoms of that society against it.
At the same time, the danger is that people interpret the paradox too broadly and start treating all disagreement as intolerance. That’s where things can spiral in the opposite direction. Democracies depend on the ability to argue, disagree, criticize leadership, and express unpopular opinions without fear of being silenced.
What concerns me most is that we seem to be losing the distinction between protecting democracy and protecting political tribes. The paradox of tolerance was never meant to justify suppressing dissent; it was meant to warn against tolerating violence, intimidation, and ideologies that seek to eliminate the rights of others altogether.
And you’re right — you can see this paradox everywhere now. Online spaces that try to tolerate everything often become dominated by the loudest and most extreme voices. Institutions that refuse to set any standards eventually lose credibility. On the other hand, institutions that overreact and try to control every narrative also lose legitimacy because people stop trusting them.
So yes, I think there is a real argument that passive tolerance of destructive behavior can make things worse. But I also think the answer has to be principled and consistent. If we abandon fairness, open debate, and equal standards in the name of “saving democracy,” we risk damaging the same system we claim to protect.
The challenge is finding the balance: defending democratic norms firmly enough that extremism cannot take root, while preserving enough freedom that democracy itself remains intact.
Finding balance will be virtually impossible when we see the oppositions as the enemy….years of poisoning the minds of voters has done this to a once proud country. chuq
Kudos to you for bringing to light another critical problem plaguing our society. I also agree with the previous comments by Pete and John. This is a terrible conundrum.
The reformation of democracy in post-war Germany addressed it head-on. The utter devastation of World War II could not be allowed to happen again. That’s why Nazism had to be outlawed at the expense of free speech. It was the right thing to do. Young children had to be protected from such dangerous ideologies.
And, that’s where the United States failed. Under the guise of constitutionally mandated free speech and the presumed sanctity of unbridled capitalism, rightwing extremists eviscerated America’s secular public school system. Children were left exposed, fascist ideology took root, and now we’re suffering the consequences.
The U.S. Democratic Party knew what would happen, yet their efforts to prevent it were halfhearted and were compromised by self-interest. They are to blame as much as Republicans.
I agree completely about the Dems….I have been warning people about the party for years….they have started down a path that will only make things worse. chuq
The Biggest Fake News of All: “Winning”.
Why would that fella Trump, who broke so many campaign promises, spend all his time screaming “winning” in your face?
Here are just a few of Trump’s broken promises—facts any of us can see plain as day:
* Tariffs: He swore his tariffs were a huge win for America. The courts ruled them illegal, and a federal appeals court found he unlawfully used emergency powers to bypass Congress. Now your tax dollars are on the hook: the administration is having to repay $166 billion in tariffs that never should have been collected in the first place.
* Energy costs: Trump repeatedly promised to cut your energy bills in half within 12 months of taking office. Instead of that 50% cut, he started a war on February 28, 2026, that’s sent prices the other way. Marco Rubio admitted the war was about following Israel, not defending U.S. soil. By May 2026, the national average for gasoline has surged 50% above the pre‑war level to $4.52 a gallon, while diesel has hit $5.62 — just 21 cents shy of the all‑time record. Both of those price jumps feed directly into inflation because diesel powers the trucks and trains that move every item on the shelf.
* Food and fertilizer costs: It doesn’t stop at the pump. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz—open before Trump blundered into it—choked off nearly a third of the world’s seaborne fertilizer trade. Urea prices nearly doubled, and the World Bank now projects global fertilizer prices will surge 31% in 2026. That hits farmers right as they’re planting, which means higher food prices on the shelf—not just now, but likely stretching well into 2027.
* Ukraine: Trump swore he’d end that war in 24 hours—said it at least 83 times on the campaign trail. It’s still grinding on, and he later confessed, “This is not a one-day process deal.”
* Iran: “No more wars in the Middle East,” Trump promised—yet he started a war that shut down the Strait of Hormuz, wrecked U.S. bases across the region, and showed the world you can’t fight with printed dollar bills. You actually need effective military hardware—not aircraft carriers with blocked toilets that catch fire in the laundry room.
* Mass deportations: Trump promised the biggest deportation push ever, starting on Day 1. His administration projected about 600,000 deportations—fewer than Biden’s final year.
* The border wall: Trump vowed to finish that wall and make Mexico pay for it. It’s still half-built, and U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill.
* Tax cuts: Trump pledged a huge tax cut for working families. It never materialized.
* Gaza: Trump said he’d stop that war on Day 1, too. That promise fell apart.
* Healthcare: Trump promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better and cheaper. He never even put a plan on the table.
* Social Security and Medicare: Trump swore he’d protect them, then pushed budgets that would cut them.
* Drain the swamp: Trump promised to clean house and drain the Washington swamp. Instead, the swamp got deeper. Here’s the bitter truth: the very “deep state” he claimed he’d destroy is the machine that built him and now keeps him afloat. He didn’t drain the swamp—he just stocked it with different alligators and keeps them fat on your tax dollars.
Why the firehose of untruths?
The “winning” video and all those “greatest ever” memes aren’t confidence—they’re cover. It’s a strategy designed to bury this pile of broken vows under a mountain of noise. Here’s how it works, in plain terms:
1. Flood the zone so nobody can keep up. Trump’s swamp puts out so many claims, so fast, that fact-checking them all is impossible. Propaganda researchers call this the “firehose of falsehood”—a technique meant not to inform but to brainwash. The goal is to wear you out until you can’t tell what’s true anymore. That hour-long video of a single word is a perfect example.
2. Say it over and over until it feels true. Your brain is wired to mistake familiarity for truth—scientists call this the “illusory truth effect.” Hear “winning” a thousand times, and part of you starts feeling like something must be going right, even when your own eyes tell you different. That’s the whole con.
3. Scare people, then hand out the “fix.” First they cook up a threat—like “Iran has nuclear bomb ambitions” or “Iraq has WMDs and is out to get you.” They repeat it until it’s all you hear. Then they tell you only one man can stop it, and he needs more of your tax dollars and more political power to do it. That’s how a manufactured crisis turns into a power grab—from the people to the pampered billionaire class.
What this tells you about how they see you.
When a politician runs this kind of propaganda campaign, it tells you exactly what he feels for the people he’s talking to: contempt. The science behind the firehose reveals deep contempt for the electorate—deep contempt for you.
The whole strategy—repeating falsehoods, flooding the zone, manufacturing consent through relentless lies—only works if the people running it believe voters are stupid fools. Think about what that means: it’s an admission that they know the truth is bad for them, so they throw lies at you like sand in your eyes instead.
When a president’s record is full of losses, he’s afraid to run on that record. Trump’s swamp central has cranked up the propaganda machine so loud he hopes you can’t hear yourself think. He’s flooding your mind with lies because the facts expose him. He calls himself the greatest of all time because the evidence says the opposite. And he does it because his advisors have told him—and the research confirms—that if you repeat a lie loudly enough and often enough, a lot of folks will eventually do as they’re told: by Election Day, the hope is that the dopes will vote for the lies that harm themselves.
The question isn’t whether this propaganda strategy works—the science says it does. The real question is whether enough Americans can look up from their social media feeds long enough to notice the reality staring them in the face. (Comment by Radar9000 -Sonar21.com)
“… if the people running it believe voters are stupid fools.”
Absolutely, and when the decades-long rightwing strategy to dumb-down the American people (via the privatization of public schools, news media consolidation, and social media propaganda, etc.) is considered, it was a self-fulfilling prophesy.
That is a Helluva list…..Goebbels would be proud of the GOP….I wish I had more faith in the voter than I do….I am afraid that they will keep falling for the BS no matter how much we point out the lies…..ever noticed that the crap that they say Dems would do is exactly what they , the GOP, is doing today? chuq