With the current political turmoil surround trump and his supporters, I think it'd be a good idea to re-examine a facet of the horse community I've always considered to be our biggest hurdle in successfully navigating the wider world.

The outdated idea of "love and tolerance".

Most people already know how outdated this term is, but recently the phrase has gained new life as a shaky excuse for bigotry and harmful behavior. A defense against holding people accountable.

A defense that the show FIM itself blatantly contradicts.

Something I feel this community as a whole never quite learned was that the show itself has NEVER preached endless tolerance and has had several situations where that attitude is directly criticized.

In Griffon The Brush Off, Twilight functions as a stand-in for this mis-placed tolerance. She plays the part of the centrist who endlessly gives bad-faith actors the benefit of the doubt, while at the same time dismissing legitimate concerns.

We as the audience can clearly see that Pinkie is right about Gilda's behavior, but it takes a public meltdown for everyone to realize she was right. And what happens then? Is there love and tolerance?

No. She's told to GTFO.

More importantly, Twilight herself apologizes to Pinkie. Here we see that the episode is clearly telling us Twilight was in the wrong for extending endless tolerance to Gilda.

Early on in the show we were already being shown that you have to toss out bad actors.

In another episode (coincidentally also involving Rainbow Dash) we see her once again decisively shut down a bully once her friends are put in harms way. This time though things are a bit different...membership in RD's dream team the Wonderbolts is put into question.

Its not just one character Rainbow is up against. Its an entire organization. She directly confronts and criticizes the way they run the show, and even quits in protest. She doesn't tolerate THEIR tolerance of hurtful ponies.

Crucially, the episode showcases the entire organization changing its ways to recognize RD was right. Lightning Dust gets kicked out immediately. Or as modern conservative would put it, "cancelled".

The show also demonstrates how phrases and ideologies can be co-opted for harm, much in the same way "love and tolerance" has. Cozy glow is a character who twists the core meaning of the show "Friendship is Magic" into something sinister to suit her own ends.

As a community we have not applied these lessons to our actual lives and it shows in the way we treat things like politics and drama. Despite touting the show as being filled with good morals we have outright ignored those teachings in favor of a made up feel-good phrase.

But that's not to say that tolerance can't still be a core facet of the community. It just has to be backed up with actual consequences for toxic behaviors.

Gilda eventually became friends with RD again...but only AFTER she was kicked out for her bullying.

The uncomfortable truth is that in order to maintain peace, there has to be consequences for being a dipshit. Whether it be social exclusion, deplatforming, or being suspended on community sites. Unlimited tolerance does not work.

Even a children's show understood that.

Now there is worry among some folks that this attitude will foster divisiveness, an idea that is echoed even in the federal government. But ask yourself, has unlimited tolerance actually helped the state of the fandom? Has letting fascists thrive made us more, or less united?

Sooner or later you have to put your foot (or hoof) down. And not just at the individual level. Our big sites like EQD, derpibooru and others have to foster actual change. You'll be called an authoritarian of course. But if you want the fandom to thrive you HAVE to be firm.

This extends to our convention spaces. We cannot be afraid to hurt some MAGA bigots feelings by revoking our endless tolerance. This is not "getting political" and "ruining escapism".

Its making sure that at the end of the day we actually have somewhere to escape TO.

Nazis cannot be tolerated.
Racists cannot be tolerated.
Anti-LGBT bigots cannot be tolerated.
White supremacy cannot be tolerated.
Neither can the unhinged supporters of Trump.

If I see a MAGA hat at a con I'm giving it the "Toon Kritic special". Keep it at home.

If you feel that any of this is unfair I'd be happy to talk with you more in DMs, especially if you're a Trump supporter. Forgiveness is still something I believe in, but it can't be thrown about without actual reconciliation, learning, and personal change.

Anyway I know saying all this to most of you is redundant but I just wanted to address how these recent MAGA bannings is supported by even My Little Pony. Love and Tolerance has limits. I think its a mistake to not outline exactly what those limits are.