Tolerance of the Intolerant

The real test for those of us who preach tolerance is this; what tolerance to we show those who are intolerant of us – our ethnicity, religion, personal practices, or political beliefs?

As much as any other human characteristic, tolerance is not imparted by preaching; but can be taught only by example.

Fire Fighting

Imagine how much more difficult it would be to put out a fire if every aspect of the effort—hose size, water pressure, tactics, etc.—had to be negotiated with a committee of arsonists.   

Concentrated Wealth and Democracy

Among the most pernicious illusions in our society is the idea that the grotesque distortion of wealth and income distribution in our country can coexist with any resemblance of a real democracy.

On the other hand—since we are utterly powerless to change this reality—perhaps this illusion has a positive aspect. One might maintain that false hope is better than no hope at all.

This is going to sound like I'm some kind of ...

It's funny how every time somebody starts a statement with the preamble, “You’ll probably think I sound like some racist (add or substitute ‘sexist’, ‘xenophobic’, ‘homophobic’, etc.) jerk, but I’ve got to say …”, they invariably finish their statement with something which could lead to no other conclusion.

They seem to think that this preamble immunizes them from the any implications of the statements that follow.

It doesn’t.