Repressive Tolerance. In Vpered, 2025-11-27.

The article examines the circumstances under which the humanistic ideal of tolerance becomes an instrument for supporting repressive political regimes. In the author’s view, in a society where oppression is normalized, tolerance is equivalent to political passivity and moral relativism. Reflecting on democracy, the author argues that tolerance of freedom of expression should not extend to political practices. It is suggested that intolerance of discrimination could have prevented numerous historical catastrophes. The author draws a fundamental distinction between two kinds of political violence: reactionary and revolutionary. The latter is committed by oppressed social strata and is intended not to begin a new cycle of violence but to break the existing one. The author sees revolutionary violence as a progressive historical force.