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Carol H Tucker
Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial
Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
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can't we all just get along?
Today is the 4th day of the 37th week, the 13th day of the 9th month, the 256th day of 2017 [with only 102 days until Christmas], and:
Quote of the day:
“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. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.” “
~ Karl R. Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies, 1945
I have been pondering this quote for a while now, ever since I ran across it in an article that was referencing internet trolls are the inevitable product of communicating online, claiming the “wild wild west” nature of the internet has created the polarization of extreme viewpoints by permitting all points of view – socially acceptable and culturally non-acceptable alike – to create their soapboxes and gather adherents.
OTOH: it is tolerance that has given rise to such concepts as diversity and has come out against prejudice on the basis of how we appear – altho it would seem that some parts of what we find okay to deplore, such as making fun of fat or age, is still considered okay. Tolerance has permitted subculutures to come forward – things like BDSM, M/s and polyandry for example – that existed for a long time but only a tolerant society can accept them. .
OTOH? It has also given rise to hate groups – entire bodies of people who only focus on one thing they can vent all of their hostility against “them” whoever “them” is. These folks are quick to demand toleration for themsolves even as they are denying it to others, and that is what makes Popper’s reflection particularly valid, especially as we struggle with the concept of “free speech” and reject the “them against us” mindset.
Most of us are rather bewildered by all the shouting, figuring that “hate speech” is just plain wrong, and when asked to define it, shrugging and saying that we know it when we see it [much like Stewart’s definition of obscenity]. I truly believe that 99 44/100 % of the inhabitants of this good Earth if given the choice would prefer that we all just get along.
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