The End of Tolerance

What troubles me most about this country is that we seem to have moved from the American ideal – “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” to the Soviet ideal: “I disapprove of what you say, and I will fight to see to it that you are punished for saying it.”

Author: David Wolf

An adviser to corporations and organizations on strategy, communications, and public affairs, David Wolf has been working and living in Beijing since 1995, and now divides his time between China and California. He also serves as a policy and industry analyst focused on innovative and creative industries, a futurist, and an amateur historian. View all posts by David Wolf

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Crapitalist Pig September 3, 2018
I have never been an especial friend of organized labor because by the time I reached political consciousness, Big Labor had gone from being a righteous force hoping to meet the owners of capital on an equal footing to an entitled deadweight on the American economy. That was 40 years ago, and today the pendulum has swung far into the favor of management and […]
#NeverTrump Conservatives Are Not Democrats August 6, 2018
#NeverTrump Conservatives Are Not DemocratsConservatives who think the GOP-led Congress has proven an insufficient check on the GOP-led executive are placing a vote of confidence in the Constitution, not the progressive agenda. — Read on www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/nevertrump-conservative-critics-never-become-democrats/View On WordPress
Short Shot: Prom Dress Blues July 18, 2018
Short Shot: Prom Dress BluesThe debate over a Caucasian teenager wearing a cheong sam as a prom dress offers conclusive proof that “cultural appropriation,” whatever its original validity, has become an instrument of social tyranny deserving of ridicule and opprobrium. Going forward, whenever someone suggests that I join the Democratic Party instead of holdi […]
Over the Aisle: This You Must Defend July 10, 2018
Over the Aisle: This You Must Defend Marie Myung-Ok Lee finds herself conflicted about attending a controversial author’s reading and wonders: what does “speaking up” actually mean? Source: Politics and Prose Lee writes a fascinating article that is worth the long read for two reasons. Most obviously, she is a progressive who is uncomfortable with the Antifa […]
An Economic Issue July 3, 2018
In a fascinating London Review of Books essay earlier this Spring, the distinguished historian Peter Clarke engages in a singular attempt to resuscitate the reputation of Enoch Powell, the late British parliamentarian and classicist who became infamous for a xenophobic address in Parliament in 1968 that was later dubbed the “Rivers of Blood” speech. Acts of […]
Wealth does not make Wise June 12, 2018
Wealth does not make WiseThe time has come for us to abandon the implicit belief that the successful acquisition of deep pools of money or vast power does not confer prima facie credibility or rightness on anyone. That process begins in our daily conversations. So the next time someone defends a questionable idea posited by a self-made individual with a rejo […]
In Re Barr and the Bee May 31, 2018
In Re Barr and the BeeWith regards the fact that Samantha Bee still has a job on television while Roseanne Barr does not, I see four possibilities. 1. Some unknown authority has issued a secret decree to the effect that an offensive sexist slur is less egregious than an offensive racist slur. 2. The leadership at TBS lack the courage and conviction of the le […]
A Nation of Creeds May 29, 2018
A Nation of Creeds To those who would make of America a Christian nation, I respond thus: if you succeed in your ultimate goal of having America decreed a “Christian Nation,” you might hold your head a little higher on your way to church. You might eliminate some of the opposition to your practices that have been an irritation for you. Maybe. What you will h […]
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Agriculture May 18, 2018
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Author: David Wolf

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