But seriously, this is one of the most abhorrent hellscapes of a comment section I've ever been part of.

So wait, saying "this is a hurtful word that causes pain and fear" is a "harsh penalty"?

I understand your point, I just think you're entitled. This isn't just a matter of different words meaning things to different people. That word is a word known to EVERY gay kid and EVERY other kid bullying them. It's like saying, "Well, 'nigger' means different things to different people, so I don't know what the big…

My gift to industry is the genetically engineered worker, or Genejack. Specially designed for labor, the Genejack's muscles and nerves are ideal for his task, and the cerebral cortex has been atrophied so that he can desire nothing except to perform his duties. Tyranny, you say? How can you tyrannize someone who…

I can totally imagine games where that would be useful!

Again: try to not be a sociopath. It goes a long way.

Figuring all of this out would go much more smoothly if they had an anthropologist on staff to parse it out for them.

Or racist rednecks who have never been to a library.

I can't possibly know every word of idea that will cause suffering, so in general, I don't worry myself overly much about it.

Even if people were so strong that words - deeply embedded in culture and used in giving them pain daily - didn't effect them, does that give us the right to keep throwing it in their faces? It seems to me that the required willpower to just not use the word "fag" is very, very low. The required willpower to unravel…

I know. I was making a sardonic point.

There's a good article here: [rudepundit.blogspot.com]

Actions and words are totally intertwined. We're not dogs; you can call your pet a stupid asshole, and he doesn't care.

I've been noticing how people talk a lot about professional, public figures who talk about themselves when journalists ask them questions about themselves and their work.

I can agree with that. Those facts would definitely strengthen and generalize the narrative being told here.

If you were actually raped by a dick, and are ACTUALLY upset by its use, then I would respect that.

Technically, hardcore Arab Springers started this movement for us.

I never said they were equal actions. That would be silly. It's equally silly to imagine, however, that to say something is to do nothing. Have you never read a book? Listened to a speech? Spoke with kindness or severity to loved ones? I will in no way accept that words are empty and have no effect on the world.

Words ARE actions.

Absolutely. Facts-based argumentation should be cultivated when possible!