Friday, December 7, 2012

IN FAVOR OF INTOLERANCE

No word that I hate more than "Tolerance." It is the petit-bourgeois way of signifying to the "others" that they can exist in peace thanks to the great kindness of those in power, namely themselves. It is a mortal hypocrisy, that has kept women in the kitchen, gays in the closet , immigrants in the suburbs and anarchists in prison. The price for it is prodigious: if those in charge are tolerant with us, then, of course, it implies that we have to be tolerant with them. We have to accept - no, not only to "accept", but to "understand"- their atrocious way of living, their atrocious commercial music and culture, their conceited moralistic views, their ruthless defense of social inequalities (and the implicit racial, sexual or cultural inequalities hiding behind this)... So I deem myself completely intolerant here - I either love and accept, or laugh at and shrug off - when I don't plainly attack. I do not pretend to "understand" anything - hell, who can? - and I can't say I will empathize with you - but if I say you're allright in my book, then my house is open to you and we can share a good talk, and disagree in harmony. But if you dare "tolerate" me in yours, I will set fire to your sofa, kill your dog and give your children one of my books. This is the end of my Christmas message.