CDR: Re: <nettime> Rebirth of Guilds

[Konrad Podloucky]

On 25-Sep-2000 David Honig enlightened me with:
[...]
>>
>>I think liberty should carry a pricetag of tolerance.
>>
> 
> No, liberty is absolute, and probably not being exercised if
> *someone*
> isn't offended.  Your suggestion to "play nice" is quaint but
> irrelevent
> when talking about sovereign adults.
> 
> Tolerance means tolerating intolerant groups.  The latter-day
> euros (germans
> and french esp.) don't get it.  When you burn nazi literature
> you have become
> them.
> 
You got an interesting point there. Being a "latter-day euro"
(from a country which has been accused of having a fascist
government by most of Europe, but that's another story) I don't
really get it that if I were a Jew (homosexual, guy with a
non-german name, ... pick your favorite) I'd have to tolerate a
group of loonies who don't grant me the right to live. 
Sure I can't force you to like me or be nice to me, but I think
there are certain very basic rules, each of us has to obey,
which make living in a society possible. Let's face it: Society
isn't self-regulating and as soon as an ideology, philosophy or
whatever severely restricts the way of life of a group it's not
worth being tolerated, IMNSHO. The very least I expect from a
fellow human being is that (s)he acknowledges my right to exist.
Personally I think, burning their literature is going a step too
far, but being a European, I understand why they (esp. the
French) are so afraid of Nazism. But the Anti-Nazi Hysteria is
the wrong way to go.


Konrad
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  .~.   Konrad Podloucky      GnuPG/PGP-key available by request
  /V\    "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has
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