I Can Tolerate Anything Except the Outgroup — Scott Alexander

Alexander argues that much advertised tolerance is aimed at groups that are not really one’s outgroup. Real tolerance means kindness toward people who provoke tribal anger. The essay’s central move is to identify the true outgroup not by difference, but by proximity, rivalry, and emotional heat. > I can tolerate anything except the outgroup. > Being tolerant makes me see red, makes me sweat blood, but darn it I am going to be tolerant anyway.

The opening Chesterton story distinguishes real forgiveness from forgiving what one never condemned. If something seems harmless to you, ignoring it is not forgiveness. Virtue appears when the offence genuinely hurts. > You only pardon the sins that you don’t really think sinful. > You forgive because there isn’t anything to be forgiven.