Why would a society insist on misery and servitude?
I do not like the word “tolerance” at all because it contains some kind of a favor, a grant. It is a show of thinking of one’s self as superior and tolerating those who are inferior to you, the ones you actually cannot stand.
Who is able to tolerate who and on what grounds? What kind of a bragging is that? Tolerance does not contain equality.
Equality is accepting each other as they are. It is not judging, trying to change or wishing them to be like you. When this is not totally adopted and faked, then it is called “tolerance.” The road to “otherizing” is actually paved with tolerance stones.
Ireland became the first country to say “yes” to gay marriage. The Irish people ended the absurdity of “tolerating homosexuals” with their “yes” votes and made them equal to everybody.
They are celebrating this as a victory of social change against the rooted oppressive mentality. They regard this as a victory for democracy.
Truly, democracy is such a thing. It is one where people are not pushed to tolerate each other; it is where the deep-seated oppressive mentality is shattered and where people are equalized.
Actually, the Irish people approved something in this referendum beyond same sex marriages. They have shown the world that being equal does not mean being the same, but rather accepting and loving each other with their differences. They said “no” to hypocrisy.
They took the side of honesty. They hit true democracy like a slap in the face of those countries like us where democracy is indexed to the ballot box and whoever comes out of that box makes an arbitrary democratic portrayal.
Imagine, you are so full of yourself, you “tolerate” others. Who do you tolerate?
Do you tolerate the Kurds, Alevis, headscarf wearers, Armenians, Jews, the Roma, atheists, gays, women or the young?
Just think and then notice that those you tolerate are actually those you otherize. They are those you believe, “Would have been better if they did not exist. But since they are here, I will not turn my head toward their side so often, acting as if they did not exist. I will not create problems; I will act as if I am not bothered by them.”
The majority of those who think like this are also those who some people do not like at all and consider “slippery and stupid,” the “ignorant segment.”
Many well-read people who have traveled the world and are aware of global realities are also the same.
This is regardless of education.
The established oppressive mindset is the kind of thing that passes from generation to generation with its views, hate speech and deep running ideas. It is a wall against the liberation of society, against sensitivity, against social change; one that even infiltrates court decisions and blocks the equalization of individuals.
Yes, certain political powers did their best to gain votes by disintegrating different human groups by making them enemies to each other, polarizing them, creating paranoia, generating fear and fueling hate. They are the villains of history.
But, how come we took the bait and how come we are still taking the bait? It is because some of us are quite happy with this.
Let us be honest first. We should first face ourselves and accept how two-faced we are. Let us shed this hypocrisy and get rid of the word “tolerance” from our vocabulary.
Let us stop despising each other, accusing and judging each other, disregarding each other. Then we will see if anybody is ever able to lock democracy into a box. Let us see if anybody then dares to generate hate speech.
As we have seen in the Ireland example, while social change has put on wings and flown all over the world, we, with our oppressive mentalities, are scratching about like a reptile.
We insist on standing on the wrong side of history and turning this world into hell both for ourselves and for the people we live with.
Why would a society insist on unhappiness and servitude? Don’t they know that hate only preys upon its owner?