Life Depends Upon Discrimination! By Brian Simpson

The modern misuse of the word "discrimination" has turned a vital human faculty into a moral sin. From a conservative perspective — one grounded in realism, tradition, and the hard-won lessons of human nature — this linguistic sleight-of-hand is dangerous. True discrimination is not bigotry; it is discerning judgment, the ability to distinguish between better and worse, safe and dangerous, true and false, good and evil. Without it, life itself becomes impossible.

Consider the biological bedrock. Single-celled organisms survive only because they discriminate: they absorb nutrients and expel toxins, move toward food and away from harm. Multicellular life escalates this: animals choose mates, avoid predators, select habitats. Humans take it further still. Every day we discriminate in countless small ways — crossing the street to avoid a sketchy alley, preferring one restaurant over another based on reviews and reputation, choosing friends who uplift rather than drag down. These are not acts of hatred; they are acts of prudence and self-preservation. To stop discriminating would be to stop living intelligently.

In social and moral realms, the necessity is even clearer. Parents discriminate fiercely when raising children: they shield them from harmful influences, teach them right from wrong, reward virtue and correct vice. Societies that thrive do the same on a larger scale. They discriminate in law, culture, and custom —because it has proven best for stable families and child-rearing; valuing merit in hiring and promotion because it rewards competence over quotas; upholding borders because unchecked influxes strain resources and erode cohesion. These discriminations are not arbitrary prejudices; they are reasoned distinctions rooted in experience, evidence, and the accumulated wisdom of generations.

The conservative critique sharpens when we examine the alternative: indiscriminate tolerance. Tolerance has its place — within a shared moral framework, it smooths minor frictions and fosters cooperation in families, communities, and nations. But when tolerance becomes absolute, when it demands acceptance of everything without distinction, it destroys the very foundations it claims to protect. Excessive tolerance erodes standards. It blurs the line between virtue and vice until vice gains equal footing. It invites predators into the fold under the guise of "inclusion." It forces people to affirm what they know to be false or harmful, breeding resentment, hypocrisy, and eventual collapse.

History offers stark warnings. Civilisations that lost their capacity for moral discrimination — Rome in its decadent late stages, Weimar Germany amid cultural relativism — invited their own downfall. When a society can no longer say "this is unacceptable" without apology, it loses the will to defend itself. The current cultural moment illustrates this vividly: the push to tolerate (or celebrate) behaviours and ideologies that previous generations would have rightly rejected as destructive — whether in family structure, education, public discourse, or national identity — has not produced harmony. It has produced confusion, division, and decline.

Discrimination, properly understood, is the guardian of excellence and order. It allows us to say:

This idea strengthens the common good; that one weakens it.

This behaviour builds character; that one corrodes it.

This person or group shares our core values and can be trusted in community; this one does not and must be kept at arm's length.

These are not invitations to cruelty. Bigotry targets individuals unjustly based on immutable traits or irrelevant differences. Discerning discrimination judges actions, ideas, and patterns of behaviour on their merits, or demerits. It is the difference between rejecting a violent ideology and rejecting a person solely for their ethnicity; between barring certain conduct from public institutions and persecuting people for private beliefs.

The educated classes, as noted in prior blog pieces, often lead the charge against discrimination because they inhabit abstract realms where consequences are distant and ideas can be toyed with endlessly. But life is not a seminar. In the real world, poor discrimination costs lives, liberties, and civilisations. The plumber who chooses reliable tools over fashionable ones keeps his business afloat. The parent who discriminates against toxic influences protects their child's future. The nation that discriminates in immigration and cultural transmission preserves its way of life.

To reclaim discrimination is to reclaim sanity. It requires the courage to judge — not with malice, but with clarity. It demands the humility to admit that not all choices are equal, not all behaviors are benign, and not all tolerances are virtuous. In an age that equates judgment with hate, the conservative insistence on discerning choice is not reactionary; it is preservative. Without it, we sink into a muddled, directionless existence where nothing matters because nothing can be rejected.

Life depends on discrimination. Civilisation demands it. Pretending otherwise is not tolerance — it is surrender to chaos.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/discrimination_is_good_tolerance_can_destroy_us.html