John Singleton with Bob HowardRip Van Australia (Stanmore: Cassell Australia, 1977), pp. 244-45, under the heading “Tolerance”.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away.

H. D. THOREAU

The need for and virtues of tolerance in day-to-day living need not be emphasised. It is sufficient to say that a free society would maximise the opportunities for all people “to step to the music they hear” and that the enemy of such tolerance is compulsion.

There is, however, another area where the exercise of tolerance and, in particular, generosity would be of great help today, and that is in the realm of ideas. It is probably true to say that every movement or group has a lunatic fringe. These are usually the militant elements, and the ones most prone to violence. They are counter-productive and do more harm than good to their supposed “friends”. If they really wanted to help they’d get lost, but, of course, they are incapable of making such an objective judgement. Their minds are closed, they are fanatically devoted to their cause and as such are completely intolerant of all opposition.

Less dangerous, but equally damaging perhaps, are the closed minds that are also found in the other parts of movements and groups. Thus, for the closed mind on the Right, everyone on the Left is an enemy, and vice versa.

If we are to make any progress at all in sorting out the mess that this country is in, we all have to forget our emotional prejudices and look at facts and principles. We have to think logically, and not act because of hate or envy or greed. We should be prepared to look with intellectual generosity at an opponent’s arguments — seek to understand them — and not simply reject them, in relief, at the first obstacle.

People don’t always use words in the same way, and often have difficulty expressing themselves. It’s only after we understand what they mean, or are trying to say, that we are in a position to judge. There is, for example, a marked tendency for people of libertarian beliefs to view all socialists as the enemy, and take the view that everything they say or stand for is wrong because they are socialists. The same can be said for the attitude of many socialists towards free enterprise, let alone libertarianism.

This does not mean that we should accept everything people say and make no judgement. To survive we must act, and to act we must make judgements. But to minimise our chances of making mistakes, we should base our judgements, as far as possible, on sound principles and solid reasoning. This, of course, involves work, and no doubt that’s why many people shy away from it. But it’s only by constantly evaluating, revising, checking and investigating that we can build up our knowledge, and grow.

The blind following of a leader and a dogma, such as happened in Nazi Germany, is no way to progress. Freedom of thought and expression, and tolerance of differences are prerequisites of a free and growing world. And tolerance, in summary, is seeking to understand the other person’s point of view. After all he/she is probably a human too.