I think wayyyyy more people than you realize say it. Even people you think are raging leftists. Most of us got quiet because we in general agree with left leaning things. Feel free to skim my profile...

But man... fucking EVERYONE says retarded. I'm very left leaning. Once I got away from a few select people... it was genuinely kind of a culture shock for me how many people say it lol.

I'm not advocating for people to just sling it like crazy.. and I know in a way that's kind of what's gonna happen to SOME EXTENT... but as someone who tried to push other folks toward not saying this in the past....

I 100% think it's a lost cause. I don't think it's going away. I don't personally think it's ableist and never did.

To make a comparison, from my perspective, it's kind of like turning the word "insane" into a slur.... we did some reaaaal bad things to people under the veil they were "insane." We put people in jail and mental hospital for most of their lives. We fried their brains with medication and lobotomized them both chemically and physically. It's not as common, but it is 100% an insult to tell someone they are insane or acting insane (I mean if they're bashing their skull into a tree or somethin that IS insane but that would also be an extreme example to call someone retarded over)

But we don't get upset about calling people insane today... everything has context and I think the context of retard has moved on from why people are offended.

A more apt comparison is being equally mad you called someone slow... I mean... retard is literally a word for slow in French... it kinda really only become ableist when someone wants it to be interpreted that way. At what point is simply calling someone stupid not also then ableist? Are we gonna crucify people if they use any other insult beyond "ignorant" that doesn't indicate the insultee's willingness in their stupidity? Or is "you lack/display a lack of intelligence" (the definition of stupidity) somehow more classy than slow and retarded in your eyes?

My 2c is that unless you expect to erase the word (you're not going to) you're better off helping to change the meaning in common view (most of us just think it means ya RLY RLY fkin dumb but use a word beyond stupid or idiot) and steal it back from them. Grinding to death and dividing OURSELVES internally over shit this nonsensical is killing us.

It's an easy code switch that uses their language against them and makes you more credible in their eyes 🤷🏻 as an ally I'm just saying not every battle can be won the way you originally wanted it to be

TLDR: bunch of different justifications for why I call MAGATs retards when they make stupid points in arguments

Those interesting topic people would have been better off in another setting.

Also Rogan is a right wing propagandist hack, nevermind his lack of comedy skills.

Why stop there? Let’s bring back slurs about gay people, black people, let’s bring back Jewish stereotypes. Let’s turn into the cesspool that was The Donald and Reddit’s old racist subs. No need to be considerate and inclusive, respectful and empathetic. Is this what you’re saying?

Context is everything, if you ever knew and cared about someone with disabilities, you wouldn't think that way.

“Everything I don’t like is ~~woke~~ virtue signaling”

Every time we come up with a technical term to describe people with medical impairments to their intelligence, people begin using it as an insult.

I guess here's hoping "intellectually disabled" doesn't catch on (hopefully too wordy).