Did you say “Zero Tolerance?”

Zero was a number like one (1), two (2), three (3) etc.
Tolerance was the allowance that engineers built into their plans.

The two words now form part of a concept, daily “policies” such as: “Zero tolerance towards … whatever.”

This new concept has as its origin the watering down of norms, standards and values over recent past years.
As a child, to get a good smack when you were naughty was normal.
Now don’t you dare lift your hand to a child! (For the record I survived, without difficulty, smacks that made sitting on my bum impossible for days… It did me good! It made me a better man.I am indeed blessed to have received such discipline.)

There existed a minimum acceptable standard of dress, behaviour and a value system that worked. All these were developed gradually and entrenched in our societies for centuries. And then, some nincompoops in authority decided that these norms, standards and values were too hard for them to keep up… After all, were they not corrupt? Crooked? And of course the judiciary agreed... How dare you complain about that man stealing your food. He was hungry! Case dismissed!

And so the watering down began… Swear words were accepted in the daily language, on the radio and TV. Now you can even have explicit sex on TV. Great!
If a child misbehaves in class, it is the teacher’s fault (or the parent).
Never the child. Of course not. They are Angels!

If a woman is raped it is her fault, not the rapist fault. After all he just responds to his bestial desires which he need not control. One must feel sorry for him... not the woman. The perpetrator always has more rights than the victim.

Should it be so in our civilised world? Are we civilised?