In his 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies, political philosopher Karl Popper asserted that tolerance need not be extended to those who are intolerant.
Less well known is the paradox of tolerance: Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them. In this formulation, I do not imply, for instance, that we should always suppress the utterance of intolerant philosophies; as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise. But we should claim the right to suppress them if necessary even by force; for it may easily turn out that they are not prepared to meet us on the level of rational argument, but begin by denouncing all argument; they may forbid their followers to listen to rational argument, because it is deceptive, and teach them to answer arguments by the use of their fists or pistols. We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.
The last part bears repeating:
We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.
The photo above was taken by Steve Helber of Charlottesville resident Corey Long pointing an improvised flamethrower at a group of white supremacists this past weekend. Yesha Callahan of The Root interviewed Long about that moment:
“At first it was peaceful protest,” Long said softly as he spoke. “Until someone pointed a gun at my head. Then the same person pointed it at my foot and shot the ground.”
Long said the only weapon he had was a can of spray paint that a white supremacist threw at him earlier, so he took a lighter to the spray paint and turned it into a flame thrower. And a photographer snapped the photo.
But inside every photograph is an untold story. If you look closely at Long’s picture, there’s an elderly white man standing in between Long and his friend. The unknown man was part of the counterprotests, too, but was afraid, and Long and his friends were trying to protect him. Even though, Long says, those who were paid to protect the residents of Charlottesville were doing just the opposite.
Having worked with Drew and Jonathan Scott many times for HGTV, I was hired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to shoot the cover of their upcoming book. Here's a video that was made for People Magazine that shows a behind the scenes look from the shoot. You can find the original video here.
I haven't seen the book myself but here's the cover that's being marketed. It's currently available to pre-order on Amazon.
Yesterday, another nice day in Charlotte. It was about 61 degrees and I was driving up S. Tryon St. going to meet my friend, James, for dinner. A few car lengths ahead, I noticed a truck spraying something on the street. I couldn’t read the sign on the truck, but I thought that it might have been cleaning the streets. I thought, though, if it is cleaning, it’s not doing a good job.
As I got closer, I saw the sign on the back: Keep back 100 feet! Anti-icing operations in effect. No one was heeding the sign, because the cars were following just behind the spray, not wanting to pass and get the side of their cars coated with this mix.
I looked at my dashboard thermometer – 61 degrees. Not much chance of ice. I checked my phone for the extended forecast … Snow expected on Tuesday and Wednesday. Say what???
Oh well, I guess that Old Man Winter is not quite finished with us just yet.
Something most of us probably don’t think about is where old fire hoses go when they’ve been decommissioned. The answer is: landfills all across America. Now, when hoses fail at being safe, there’s Oxgut Hose Co. to turn something that was once trash into a wonderful array of one-of-a-kind home furnishings and accessories. The Oakland, California-based company takes these old hoses and puts them into the creative hands of designers where they give them new life by way of functional and durable designs with a rich history.
From floor mats, lounge chairs, and hammocks, to eyeglass holders, and even slippers, there is clearly no limit to what can be made out of this material. The floor mats are an insanely smart way to recycle the hoses. The best part? Since the hoses are made to handle water, they’re super durable and easy to clean – just hose (ha!) them off or throw them in the washer.
Currently, Oxgut is seeking funding on Kickstarter to help fund the expansion of the line. Kick in some dough and get your very own mat!
