'You're Canceled!'

The Roots of Cancel Culture and its Place in Our Movement

“WHAT is tolerance? it is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly--that is the first law of nature.” - Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary 

The question of toleration was one that wracked the minds of statesmen, political economists, and theorists from the Protestant Reformation to the 20th century. In the 19th century English political economist, theorist, and progressive liberal John Stuart Mill wrote “On Liberty” (1859) in which he defends toleration of speech, thought, religion, and politics as the easiest way to achieve happiness for the social body. The argument rested on the idea that nobody was naturally entitled to rights, but that toleration was a state policy. Mill recognized that legal codes, cultural zeitgeist, and existing social relations set the parameters of what could be tolerated, but they also set a precedent of what could not be tolerated.