Saying "Donald Trump is an idiot" or "Donald Trump is a dumbass" is the same thing. "Idiot" is the same word as the r-slur. The only difference is that there's an identitarian bent.
I think there's a fantasy that by using a slur, you can cut through to the cult members and maybe change their mind.
With Trump saying "they're eating the dogs and cats", "covid will disappear by February / March / Easter / July 4th / it's gone / just kidding, China did it," "Hurricanes are made by democrats", there's a fantasy that you can just say "Donald Trump is rXXXXXXd" and it'll cut through the noise.
Or, there was that fantasy. Then Trump got elected.
Now, we're going to get polio and measles again, and maybe avian flu too, while people shit themselves to death, because of RFK Jr. People will literally be shitting themselves to death.
And we're going to get deportation camps, and there are people calling wildfires and hurricanes "woke". Joe Rogan is considered a thought leader. Our president is dying from dementia. A Fox News host is going to lead the Department of Defense.
How did he get here? The "Kamala's for they/them. Not you." advertisements were considered resonant. That's not satire, that's not parody, that's not someone making up an asinine advertisement to make fun of Trump. That's something that resonated with people. That's "the ad that won Trump the election".
We're not just getting fascism, we're getting bonafide fucking idiots, voted in by idiots. There's a lot of anger in being powerless to dense, stupid mother fuckers.
It makes you angry. It makes you want to use all the words you know for "someone who is so stupid it makes me angry and I want to dehumanize them."
We have a plethora of words which all mean the same thing as the r-slur, and they feel good to say. But the r-slur is the worst word, and the only one which is unacceptable for some reason, and it probably feels the best to say.
Brainless, dementia-addled, dipshit, brainfuck, stupid mother-fucking heartless shit-eating idiots. All words you can say.
Addendum:
I was in special ed for a speech impediment, and later as a peer tutor, and I have some amount of personal pain associated to the word. Other kids were angry at me and wanted to be mean to me even though I had no power over them. They called me names just because they wanted to hurt me.
I didn't realize the "r slur" was an especially bad word though. I also remember being called a "lesbian" (very prescient), plus several bad puns on my last name. I ended up succeeding academically, so, haha.
I don't think I have the right to reclaim the word, but I do have a lot of mixed feelings about it. It's definitely not one to say, and it's a sharp point on the ableism. I also feel a bit uncertain about using several words which mean the same thing in this post, to, like... Make a point?
The most vile hateful people you can imagine have gained all the power. And they have actual dementia, and actual brainworms, and whatever Elon Musk has going on. And they have most white guys on their side saying the dumbest shit.
It's not even a little bit confusing that liberals and lefties are using the r-slur!
TLDR:
I think the r-slur came back for three reasons:
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10 years of Trump = It's okay to use slurs again,
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I think liberals and lefites alike fantisized that, by pointing out MAGAs flaws using slurs, you could open eyes and chip away at the cult.
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And now, idiot fascists are taking power. We're angry that the people making the decisions are hateful and very, very stupid. I think the slur just meets the angry people feel.
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(In my addendum, I repeat the above post but with a personal lens. Having had the word used against me, but not having a learning disability, I have mixed feelings. It's still ableist, but it's very different when it's punching up against fascism vs punching down against a child in special ed.)
twovests OP wrote (edited )
This is a "two posts for one" special.
Disability is a tricky identity thing I think. I think it's good to have an expansive and inclusive idea about what disabled means. But in practice I fail at that.
I'd been rolling around in a wheelchair, courtesy of an airport, because of a chronic but undiagnosed physical condition. I felt immense guilt that I might be taking a wheelchair away from others, I felt bad at the way people averted their gaze, and I felt bad that people were so quick to accomodate me. But I really appreciated how much easier it was to get around and how much it helped the pain.
That was years ago. Using my crutches recently, to help with this problem I'm still having, I just realized, wait, ya doofus, that makes you disabled.
I'd been a big advocate for disability as an inclusive identity. Microsoft is actually great at this, modeling disability as something that can be permanent, temporary, or situational.
Despite agreeing with that inclusive model, I felt guilty about "taking" a resource from someone else who might use it.
Even though I needed it.
"Disability" is still a super broad net. Fuck, I'm disabled! I think? I've had this for years. I can't be very intersectional if I never considered myself in that way.
I was in special ed and called the r-slur for being in special ed, but even then, I am seriously not an authority on this matter! I don't have a learning disability and I don't think I faced meaningful discrimination for the perception that I did. "Disabled" is one of the broadest groups I'm aware of.
And, if it took me years of a disability to recognize I'm disabled, I probably shouldn't be speaking on disability either. I'm not experienced enough at that to be disabled correctly, you see. Wait, that's internalized ableism too. I can't just delete the post, can I? Let me consult the manual.
But I'm really self conscious!
Thank you for the reassurance, Just Post Rulebook Tulpa.
In all seriousness, I've had and think I will continue to have difficulty identifying as "disabled". It feels like stolen valor, or something I should qualify with an asterisk.
I think I would feel more comfortable with an identity that could express the nebulous, I-can-usually-walk nature of what I have going on. That might be easier if I had a diagnosis, other than "your leg can't take weight sometimes". I feel like I don't even know how to be "proud" properly.
But so long as I pass as able-bodied, I promise to continue to always be annoying to people around me about ability considerations. Big win (14 months ago), I got a manager to remove a mandate that everyone use Postman. Another big win (~70 months ago) I got my girlfriend (now ex) to feel bad for not understanding how OpenStreetMaps pavement markings could be useful for people who rely on a mobility aid. I'll continue to fight, and to make bad posts. I will never stop posting. I swear this to you.