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Herbert Marcuse’s 1965 essay *Repressive Tolerance* argues that tolerance in liberal societies isn’t neutral—it props up power while smothering real dissent. He saw it as a rigged game: the system tolerates ideas that fit its frame and represses those that don’t. Marcuse’s fix? “Liberating tolerance”—coddling radical change, even lawbreaking, if it’s “progressive,” while crushing “regressive” resistance. Fast-forward to today: police and courts often give left-leaning lawbreakers a pass when their cause aligns with elite vibes, but hammer right-leaning groups like Canada’s Trucker Convoy. Let’s break this down with real cases through Marcuse’s eyes.
Marcuse’s Core Idea
Marcuse claimed tolerance in capitalist democracies—like free speech or legal fairness—shields the status quo. It’s not about justice; it’s about control. He pushed for intolerance toward oppressive ideas (think war or exploitation) and leniency for acts challenging them, even if illegal. The hitch: who picks the winners? Today’s justice system seems to—favoring leftist breaches while pummeling right-wing ones. Two real examples show it plain.
The Left’s Light Touch
Look at the 2020 Portland protests after George Floyd’s death. Night after night, activists clashed with police, torched a federal courthouse, and smashed storefronts. Over 1,000 arrests happened across months, per Portland Police data, but Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt dropped charges for most non-violent cases—hundreds walked free. Rioting and property damage? Illegal, sure. But Schmidt called it “proportional” to focus on “serious” crimes, nodding to the protests’ racial justice aim.
Marcuse might nod too. He’d see this as “liberating”—lawbreaking to dismantle systemic racism, a cause he’d back. The state’s leniency fits his playbook: tolerate disruption if it’s “just.” But context matters. Media framed it as moral outrage, and cultural elites cheered. Tolerance here wasn’t blind—it leaned on a narrative Portland’s leaders could stomach.
The Trucker Convoy: Heavy Hand
Now flip to Canada’s 2022 Trucker Convoy. Truckers rolled into Ottawa, protesting vaccine mandates. They parked rigs, honked horns, and gridlocked downtown—illegal blockades, no question. No firebombs, though; it was loud, not violent. Ottawa’s response? A state of emergency. Police arrested 191 people, per the Ottawa Police Service, and the feds invoked the Emergencies Act—first time since 1988. Bank accounts got frozen, crowdfunding cash was seized, and leaders like Tamara Lich faced charges carrying up to 10 years. Courts still grind on some as of 2025.
Marcuse might call this “regressive”—truckers resisting public health for personal freedom, not his revolutionary vibe. His theory would greenlight repression here. But step back: these were blue-collar workers, not suits, pushing against centralized control. The state didn’t just enforce law—it flexed hard, with banks and media tagging them “extremists.” Tolerance? Out the window when the script flipped.
Side by Side
Portland versus Ottawa lays it bare. In Portland, sustained lawbreaking—arson, vandalism—drew arrests, but prosecutors waved off most penalties. The cause? Racial justice, a darling of progressive elites. The truckers broke laws too—blockades, noise—but got hit with emergency powers, asset freezes, and jail time. Their cause? Individual liberty, a sore spot for the same elites. Both disrupted public order. One got a shrug; the other got shackles.
Marcuse’s lens tracks this. He’d argue Portland’s activists deserved slack—their fight aligned with his anti-oppression stance. The truckers? Too “backward” to tolerate. Yet the truckers’ working-class roots and anti-mandate gripes echo his underdog ideal more than Portland’s curated chaos. The difference? Cultural clout. Left-leaning causes get a halo; right-leaning ones get a boot.
Steel-Manning the Divide
To be fair, the state’s not a monolith. Portland’s leniency could reflect local politics—progressive DAs like Schmidt prioritize “equity” over punishment. Ottawa’s crackdown? Public safety after weeks of gridlock, not just ideology. Law’s messy, not a conspiracy. Still, the gap’s real. A 2021 DOJ report showed 93% of Portland riot cases got dismissed or deferred; contrast that with the Convoy’s 70+ convictions by 2023, per Canadian court records. Police logged 1,000+ hours on Portland protests with kid gloves; Ottawa saw 2,000+ officers deployed in days, batons out. Numbers don’t lie—tolerance tilts.
Marcuse didn’t see this coming. He figured the repressed were leftists battling a right-wing Goliath. Now? Power’s cultural, not just economic, and it leans left—media, tech, academia. The truckers, not the rioters, look more like his outcasts. Yet “repressive tolerance” still flows his way—toward causes that sound noble, not ones that clash with the zeitgeist.
The Takeaway
Marcuse’s *Repressive Tolerance* nails today’s double standard. Portland’s rioters broke laws and walked; Ottawa’s truckers did the same and sank. It’s not random—tolerance tracks power’s favorites. Marcuse wanted it for revolution, but it’s become a perk for the loudest voices. Scroll X, pick a protest, and test it: who gets the pass? The answer’s in the outcomes, not the excuses.”
Credit to Grok AI, for the legwork with regards to statistics and editing for clarity.
Chanel Pfahl, a high school teacher in Ontario, Canada, has become a focal point in the ongoing cultural battle over education, activism, and free expression. On March 8, 2025, Pfahl announced via X that she is facing her fourth investigation by the Ontario College of Teachers for her social media posts and podcast comments criticizing activist policies, such as those promoting critical race theory and gender ideology in schools. This repeated targeting exemplifies the tactics of “woke cancel culture,” where individuals who challenge progressive orthodoxies are subjected to professional scrutiny, public shaming, and potential career destruction. Pfahl’s case highlights a broader trend in Canadian education, where dissent against ideological conformity is met with punitive measures, undermining open dialogue.
The investigations into Pfahl’s tweets and podcast remarks reveal a pattern of selective enforcement and ideological policing. Her posts, which include sharing images of school pride decorations, questioning gender-affirming care policies, and critiquing the imposition of group identities in education, are being scrutinized as “problematic” by the Ontario College of Teachers. Yet, as Pfahl notes, the same schools and educators who originally shared these materials on social media face no consequences. This double standard suggests a deliberate attempt to silence her voice, a hallmark of cancel culture, where individuals are held to inconsistent standards based on their alignment with prevailing ideological norms. The Democracy Fund, representing Pfahl in a related 2022 investigation, has argued that her comments are neither racist nor offensive, yet the investigations persist, illustrating the weaponization of regulatory power.
Pfahl’s situation also demonstrates the use of “repressive tolerance,” a tactic described by critics of critical social justice movements, as noted on the website Stop Woke Activism. While proponents of these ideologies claim to champion inclusion and diversity, their actions often exclude and punish those with opposing views, such as Pfahl. By compiling “pages and pages” of her tweets and podcast quotes, the Ontario College of Teachers is engaging in a form of public shaming, aiming to deter other educators from questioning activist policies in schools. This approach mirrors the “cancelling” tactics outlined in web resources, where dissenters are smeared, investigated, and pressured to conform, undermining fundamental democratic principles like freedom of expression and equality before the law.
The impact of these tactics extends beyond Pfahl, threatening the broader educational landscape in Canada. As highlighted in the National Post’s 2022 article on critical race theory’s influence in Canadian education, large school boards and institutions have adopted these ideologies, often without room for debate. Pfahl’s case underscores the risks for teachers who challenge this orthodoxy, potentially chilling free speech in classrooms and stifling diverse perspectives. Parents, as the primary educators of their children, also have a stake in this issue, as Pfahl’s advocacy aligns with concerns about ideological indoctrination in schools, a point emphasized by critics of critical social justice movements. Her investigations signal a broader cultural shift where dissent is pathologized rather than debated.
Ultimately, Chanel Pfahl’s repeated investigations by the Ontario College of Teachers serve as a stark warning about the dangers of woke cancel culture in Canadian education. By targeting her for expressing views that question activist policies, the regulatory body is enforcing a narrow ideological conformity that suppresses open discourse and individual rights. This case, rooted in Pfahl’s commitment to fostering an inclusive education free from imposed ideologies, reveals the need for a balanced approach that respects diverse opinions while upholding professional standards. Without such balance, the principles of liberal democracy—freedom of expression, equality, and parental rights—risk being eroded in the very institutions tasked with nurturing critical thinking and open-mindedness.
The framework of the world we live in has been set.
https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/publications/1960s/1965-repressive-tolerance-fulltext.html
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