There’s a clear campaign against the mentally ill with the global rise of fascism. Lots of it shows up in anti homeless rhetoric, but you can see it in the MAHA and anti vaccination movements.
There’s no reason to use the word “r-tarded” to describe someone. As someone who’s worked with the intellectually challenged, it’s an insult to them to compare them with people who are willfully ignorant.
“willfully uneducated, ignorant, bigoted, makes bad-faith arguments and acts foolishly” all seem like perfectly cromulent words there.
That was not offensive, that was a description.
Have you ever successfully offended a person ever in your life?
Life isn’t just comprised of “strongly worded letters”.
When people call me “r-tarded,” I don’t feel offended. What I’ve noticed, the majority of the time, is that people call me that when they have nothing to back up an argument they made. I just got it from a conservative on Facebook posting a gif in response to something like “are you okay supporting a pedophile?”
More than being insulted, I mostly felt sad for how pathetic the person calling me that.
In general, I don’t see that much point to insulting people? Cool, I can make someone mad because I’m also angry with them, and instead of anyone learning anything we’re all just pissed off now. Some people do need to be told in detail how they are a shitty, bigoted person perhaps, but calling them a “r-tard” doesn’t communicate that.
People have feelings and it is human to vent them out. That’s why swear words exist. I am not plannin to educate wach and every nazi I come across, and I really don’t care whether they’re pissed off or not.
Having intention to offend people is OK, sometimes it kicks-off self-reflection that a politely-worded official statement would not.
I refuse to being tone-policed. I am human.
“Please consider what words you use and whether some may be actively harmful to people you aren’t even trying to insult.”
“I’m being policed!!!”
Nice strawman, can we get back on topic?
Here’s a refresher. You: don’t use “x” to insult
Me: what can I use to insult
You: don’t insult
Straw man:
Here’s an actual insult - imagine going through this many logical contortions to justify not being creative enough to come up with an insult that isn’t harmful to people you aren’t trying to insult.
You’ve just confirmed that you do not know what an insult is.
The “don’t police me” part was aimed at your “don’t offend people at all”, it seems that I need to clarify that for you.