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You and the GP commenter are both simultaneously correct. However, I think your estimate of 1% is far too low. Hang around in seedy Discord chats, IRC channels
by 1propionyl 6y ago
You and the GP commenter are both simultaneously correct.
However, I think your estimate of 1% is far too low. Hang around in seedy Discord chats, IRC channels, or Facebook groups (or on second though maybe don't... it's an interesting but inadvisable hobby.), and you'll see "degenerate" thrown around as a synonym for "Jew", "Muslim", "homosexual", "transexual" constantly. These usages are fully normalized, even among those who aren't professed neo-nazis but just identify as alt-right and trade in crusader and viking memes and spam "DEUS VULT" in chat.
The adoption of the traits of the crypto- prefix (you can infer what the suffix that usually goes with is...) are a defining characteristic of the modern internet right. They are very savvy to what they can or cannot say in "polite company" or in public, and will deliberately muddy words with multiple connotations (because the in-group can distinguish which is being connoted by context, even if you can't).
In a high visibility context you'll get "it was just a joke bro" or "I just meant like gangster rap and sexualizing minors, do you have a problem with that?". But as soon as they return to more insular spaces, "degenerate" is common currency for referring to races, religions, and sexualities seemed inferior.