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.
This is my stance on the word.
We use it regularly in engineering for this exact definition. Mentally disabled people typically operate in the best version of themselves nearly all the time (minus bad days, we all have em)
But people who have the potential to operate at their full capacity but choose not to are the very definition of the word.
I will definitely think it while standing in line behind someone for 15 minutes at a coffee shop who don’t decide to even look at the menu until the cashier gets to them.
But I still don’t say it, as intention and perception are competely unrelated.
I’d also add “you dumb fucker” hits about the same, without the fallout of “the R word”
I guess that’s the part about people and taboo words I don’t understand. A little fun flex in vocabulary can transmit the same sentiment without impacting others.
Tactical strike, not full fallout.
In IRL public I rarely use any strong language against anyone. On the internet and in private with people that know me, I tend to talk like a sailor, not apologizing for that.
In public, I know everyone has their story, everyone has their reason for making dumb mistakes, and oh man, have I made a few. I’ve acted removed on occasion too, not proud of that
Having said that, I really think people overreact with the word. I wish they would react like that when something actually bad happens, but usually then you hear crickets