Repressive Tolerance: “Peace Through Violence”

The logic of the left today is overwhelmingly rooted in a single essay published in 1965 by the neo-Marxist philosopher Herbert Marcuse. That essay is “Repressive Tolerance.” The thesis statement of this essay can be boiled down to “movements from the left must be extended tolerance, even when they are violent, while movements from the right must not be tolerated, including suppressing them by violence.” This asymmetric ethic has been the heart and soul of left politics in the West since the 1960s, and we’re living in the fruit of that catastrophe now.James Lindsay

None of this is happening by accident.

h/t RP

16 Replies to “Repressive Tolerance: “Peace Through Violence””

  1. I would be more than happy to visit violence on my enemies. Those who think that they will avoid that are sadly mistaken. That would of course be attacking those on the left who really are our enemies, suppress them with violence before they suppress you. Now where have I heard that before?

  2. This explains a lot about “liberation theology”. The Fifth Commandment tells us not to commit murder but, for the LT cause, that’s conveniently forgotten.

  3. “The thesis statement of this essay can be boiled down to “movements from the left must be extended tolerance, even when they are violent, while movements from the right must not be tolerated, including suppressing them by violence.”

    Yup. So essentially, when translated to what is happening today: Antifa/BLM mayhem totally cool; Create an anti-Hillary meme and you’ll get 10 years in the slammer.

  4. The difference between tolerance and acceptance may appear subtle – by definition they are not.
    Same goes for multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism – somewhat the same but very, very different.

  5. Yep.

    How long you think we’ll be wearing masks for?
    How long did it take for the Canadian Wheat Board to be disbanded.

    There are consequences, to not fighting or raising objections, when it would have mattered.

    1. Kevin,the answer to “How long you think we’ll be wearing masks for?”
      A lot longer than those imposing them on us will enjoy.
      For masks are great,they screw up facial recognition software and render you anonymous..just Like all the Karens and Policemen.
      Never thought I would ever get told I must wear a disguise to the bank.

      As we come to recognize that all of our parasitic overload is clueless,useless and extremely dangerous to our well being..Now apparently they want to imprison masses of us to prevent us contracting the Dread Covid or something..We will be needing those masks until a critical mass has been culled,banished or driven into the sea ice.

  6. Esoterically rationalizing looting and thuggery to further the cause of man’s mythical utopian existence in the capacity of ants imposed by brute force of the state – is somehow seen as the highest intellectual pursuit of the finest institutions. Even the podcaster used leftist jargon in describing Nazis as the ultimate extreme of the “right” when in reality there is no “right”. There is Libertarianism (classical liberals) vs communism flanked by socialism and fascism (all three, variants of statism). This means that essentially most political battles are amongst the statists but cleverly directed against those opposed to statism. By their logic (dominant institutional and cultural left), a populist like Trump (who is no libertarian) is labeled a right wing extremist because his brand of statism is not be be tolerated by absolute statists. Despite thousands of years of technological advancement we are no further ahead politically (intellectually worse I’d venture) than the debates of Plato vs Aristotle.

    1. John Chittick – excellent summary of both the Marcuse utopian, naive, ignorant etc outline – and statism – and yes, we are no further ahead than the debates of Plato [in favour of essentially totalitarianism] and Aristotle. who is a bit more of a populist.

  7. The endless lies of the left are just another tactic, but who do most people believe with hesitation? I even catch myself falling for their guff at times until I realize I’m being lied to or manipulated.
    The bombardment of media bias has an effect on everybody.

  8. “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

    This is not a fight any of us can win on our own, but there are alternatives to fighting.

    1. Alternatives like what? If praying is supposed to help then where is God taking out the evil ones today. One alternative would be dying and leaving this world ruled by Satan and his army. What alternatives are you suggesting?

  9. The spoiled adult child syndrome meets begging one’s own question. Round and round, spinning society into the ground.

    Their vision of society, iow the destruction of capitalism is the only “solution to problems,” which they create themselves by advocating violence for their cause, even violence against popular society which specifically rules out violence.

    IOW, if you can’t convince the people of your goals, then “liberal society” is repressive so liberating intolerance (from prosperity, decency or citizenship) is OK. So, if you’re intolerant, given you are blessed by God’s wisdom instead of sharing natural rights, it must mean what’s tolerated is really intolerant, because you didn’t get you away by conventional means.

    Now I have a headache with those who assume rightness (the Frankfurt School of critical theory), with having to either confirm or gain wide acceptance for your views is intolerance which allows you to use violence against peaceful people “not intolerant enough.” So, they just can’t stand intolerant people.

    That’s what they mean by “historical possibilities” by surmounting present reality.

    Gumby illogic for seizing power without citizen’s permission by any means. History shows collectivist societies are rigged for failure, not those of capitalism, as Marx predicted and as Mao and Stalin applied, starving millions with no hope for dissent.

    The crux is they don’t want to have to defend their ideas so give themselves the right to use violence against any dissidence.

    Their analysis, their conclusions, their law, their science, their rationality, demonstrating they don’t care about society, just power over it.

  10. “The Marxists are always one (more) murder away from utopia !” Prof. Jordan B. Peterson

    L- I add ‘more’ as it includes well over 100 million slaughtered in the 20th Century, alone.
    (Totalitarian genocides: Armenian, Kulaks(Ukraine)Holodomor, Shoa/Holocaust/C.C.P. Cult.
    Revolution, Tibet, … et al). History matters, which is why the Marxists erase and re-write it.
    Another reason book beat an erasable internet.

  11. “Remember white [including multiracial white] silence means violence” and “it is ok to punch a Nazi”.
    Ergo: take a knee or its cattle cars.
    Understand that, before you begin pearl clutching over someone on the left behaving in less than a civil way. Also purity is for suckers. Now is not the time to demand purity.

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