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Words are immensely powerful, but they are not that hurtful unless you're a child who expects everyone to love them. The pen is mightier than the sword because
by Retra 11y ago
Words are immensely powerful, but they are not that hurtful unless you're a child who expects everyone to love them.
The pen is mightier than the sword because a pen will move armies with swords. Not because someone might get their feelings hurt.
Addendum: Speech is probably more thoroughly weaponized by calling for censorship that it is by calling someone by offensive phrases.
- quanticle 11y ago>The pen is mightier than the sword because a pen will move armies with swords. And that is exactly what the right words will do. If it's seen as socially acceptable to insult someone, then it's not far from that to having it be socially acceptable to commit physical violence against them. Historically, that's the way it's always worked. I've never once seen or read about an instance of a marginalized group where the insults stopped at racial or ethnic slurs.
- Retra 11y agoYou really have to measure these things against the numbers involved though. One person using racial slurs is just one person being a fool. One person with thousands of followers might be a problem.