Where's all this intolerance coming from??

[Frunobulax]

• So, we need not love the haters?!

We can love 'em, but we aren't compelled to mingle.

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[LizzieMaine]

It says "Love thy neighbor." Not "Like thy neighbor."

 

[GHT]

It says "Love thy neighbor."

But don't get caught.

 

[vitanola]

It says "Love thy neighbor." Not "Like thy neighbor."

 

[scottyrocks]

Relevant to this thread and developing societal patterns, there will be a mini-series/documentary airing on the Discovery Channel beginning October 13 - Why We Hate.

https://www.discovery.com/shows/why-we-hate

The general synopsis, from the linked site:

"WHY WE HATE explores one of humanity’s most primal and destructive emotions – hate. . .

"Throughout history, hate and conflict have been part of the human experience. From horrific extremes such as the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide, when hate has fueled mass destruction, to everyday incidents like playground bullying or malicious trolling on social media, hate shapes our lives in myriad ways. And while all humans have the capacity to hate, few understand what sparks it and transforms it into a destructive force.

"Executive produced by filmmaking heavyweights Alex Gibney and Steven Spielberg and directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard (Emmy® winners for “When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”), WHY WE HATE explores one of humanity’s most primal and destructive emotions – hate. At the heart of this timely series is the notion that if people begin to understand their own minds, they can find ways to work against hate and keep it from spreading."

It seems like a noble effort - to identify and attempt to remedy the situation. But to me it'll be like trying to move a mountain with a Tonka toy. There will be no, or at the very least very little effect, at least in the foreseeable future.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Why would tolerating things that are detrimental to the well-being of oneself or others be admirable? You're free to be you and I'm free to leave the conversation, room or relationship. Intolerance doesn't have to mean being rude in response or forcing someone to be a certain way. If they're breaking the law or rules, ask them to leave the privately owned premises if that's the case and have the appropriate authorities (or lawyers [yikes]) deal with them if they broke the law.

 

[Juanito]

Relevant to this thread and developing societal patterns, there will be a mini-series/documentary airing on the Discovery Channel beginning October 13 - Why We Hate.

https://www.discovery.com/shows/why-we-hate

The general synopsis, from the linked site:

"WHY WE HATE explores one of humanity’s most primal and destructive emotions – hate. . .

"Throughout history, hate and conflict have been part of the human experience. From horrific extremes such as the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide, when hate has fueled mass destruction, to everyday incidents like playground bullying or malicious trolling on social media, hate shapes our lives in myriad ways. And while all humans have the capacity to hate, few understand what sparks it and transforms it into a destructive force.

"Executive produced by filmmaking heavyweights Alex Gibney and Steven Spielberg and directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard (Emmy® winners for “When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”), WHY WE HATE explores one of humanity’s most primal and destructive emotions – hate. At the heart of this timely series is the notion that if people begin to understand their own minds, they can find ways to work against hate and keep it from spreading."

It seems like a noble effort - to identify and attempt to remedy the situation. But to me it'll be like trying to move a mountain with a Tonka toy. There will be no, or at the very least very little effect, at least in the foreseeable future.

I don't think it is complicated. Humans are predators and that is the base root. Modern laws and the societies and tenuous civility they create are the unnatural state.

 

[Nobert]

Modern laws and the societies and tenuous civility they create are the unnatural state.

I still like 'em.

 

[tonyb]

Thank the god of your choice that at least a critical mass of us humans would rather we keep our baser impulses in check, and that most humans can be persuaded to that point of view.

I don’t know that civilization is any less “natural” a human state than what preceded it. But, to your point, Juanito, I don’t know that it’s any more natural, either. Wherever we humans find ourselves, in a cave or in a space station or in a leaky double-wide out by the Interstate, is our natural condition.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I don't think it is complicated. Humans are predators and that is the base root. Modern laws and the societies and tenuous civility they create are the unnatural state.

I would disagree on a number of points; Firstly, that humans are predators; homo sapiens were hunter/gatherers, that is, depending on the enviroment, a little hunting & a lot of gathering. Secondly, being a predator does not exclude a peaceful co-existance. Large herbivores are far more aggressive & dangerous to both themselves & other species, including predators. Thirdly, we are sociable primates & evolution has doted us with the ability to cooperate in relative harmony for the cohesion of a stable group, thus increasing the chances of survival for the individuals. Unfortunately, nature has seen fit to install the tribalism option in apes which is where the problem stems.
Homo sapiens have evolved into homo economicus which leaves them very vulnerable when faced with an uncertain future, which has prehaps exacerbated man's natural tendancy to form defensive clans in order to protect themselves from opposing, unpalatable realities.
It is said that the distance which seperates civility from barbarism is 5 meals......we may well have the opportunity to test that out over the next few decades.

 

[scottyrocks]

I don't think it is complicated. Humans are predators and that is the base root. Modern laws and the societies and tenuous civility they create are the unnatural state.

I think it's as much to do with nurture as nature.

Folks who are brought up any certain way internalize what they are constantly exposed to. Folks who go against the grain are seeing the alternate grain elsewhere and decide to adopt it, for whatever reason, whether it's their needs not being met (nurture) or just that base instinct to think a certain way that doesn't match up with those around them (nature), and that can take on many forms.

Today's political climate is most likely the genesis of much of the intolerance that inspired this thread. Without delving into specific issues or taking sides, people believe what they believe. None of the views are intrinsically right or wrong, although to listen or read many people, you'd think they have cornered the market on being right.

Humans are passionate, some more than others. Some channel passion in positive ways, and some in not so positive ways. Why? That's almost impossible to call, regarding any individual. But it all comes around to the beginning of this post, quite like a vicious circle.

 

[Dreamofgilgamesh]

Of course everyone is all in favour of diversity, equality, freedom of expression and inclusivity, there's not an organisation or university in the country that doesn't trumpet that mantra. Unless of course you happen to disagree with them, then they're not quite so welcoming of dissident or diverse opinions.

 

[LizzieMaine]

America's a nation founded on intolerance. The Puritans were interested only in religious freedom for themselves, not for those infidel Preparationists or hell-bound Lutherans or god forbid, those degenerate Quakers. And especially not women who talked too much.

There's a long streak of that intolerance that has evolved down thru the centuries to flare up every now and then as Know-Nothingism, Nativist Populism, 100 Per Cent Americanism, Christian Frontism, McCarthyism, Wallaceism, "hard-hat-ism," and so on down to the present day. As long as there are clouds in the sky, there will be those who must shake their fists and yell at them.

 

[Michael R.]

America's a nation founded on intolerance. The Puritans were interested only in religious freedom for themselves, not for those infidel Preparationists or hell-bound Lutherans or god forbid, those degenerate Quakers. And especially not women who talked too much.

There's a long streak of that intolerance that has evolved down thru the centuries to flare up every now and then as Know-Nothingism, Nativist Populism, 100 Per Cent Americanism, Christian Frontism, McCarthyism, Wallaceism, "hard-hat-ism," and so on down to the present day. As long as there are clouds in the sky, there will be those who must shake their fists and yell at them.

You sound really tolerant .

 

[LizzieMaine]

I like to think that I am. Intolerant people dehumanize people who have the temerity to disagree with them. I try not to do that. My friends run the gamut from Birchers to born-again Nazarenes to Christian Scientists to Randite libertarians to Communists. And they're my friends before they're any of those other things.

 

[MisterCairo]

Who else really likes vanilla?

Sorry, I am too tired to really contribute.

Mr. C

 

[belfastboy]

America's a nation founded on intolerance. The Puritans were interested only in religious freedom for themselves, not for those infidel Preparationists or hell-bound Lutherans or god forbid, those degenerate Quakers. And especially not women who talked too much.

There's a long streak of that intolerance that has evolved down thru the centuries to flare up every now and then as Know-Nothingism, Nativist Populism, 100 Per Cent Americanism, Christian Frontism, McCarthyism, Wallaceism, "hard-hat-ism," and so on down to the present day. As long as there are clouds in the sky, there will be those who must shake their fists and yell at them.

So who do you shake your fist and yell at?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Relief pitchers who try to get cute late in the count.

 

[scottyrocks]

So who do you shake your fist and yell at?

"I'm mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!"

 

[Benny Holiday]