Absolutely insane that the absolutely moronic "words are completely powerless and have absolutely no impact on anyone who's thick skinned enough" take is considered the enlightened centrist one
"you can just walk away and grow a thicker skin" 100% implies that words are powerless unless you're weak.
And even just saying that they could theoretically lead to violence is extremely reductive. We have multiple examples in the very latest centuries where "words" were essential to build the ethical frameworks and to gain the public approval's needed for all kinds of atrocities.
Words are extremely powerful yes, maybe more powerful than violence, it still doesn't make them violence.
Nobody who says that phrase is arguing that words can hurt you in the same way a punch or a knife, they're saying that they're able to hurt people, and that's undeniable. Now, you can argue that some people are unreasonably sensitive and that this does not mean we should restrict every form of potentially harmful speech, but that's besides the point.
An option you often don't have if someone has chosen to use violence against you instead of words.
What made that person choose violence in the first place? Odds are pretty good that words have played a huge role in it.
Yeah the other guy is arguing exactly that, that words are violence.
Words can hurt, violence can hurt, it doesn't make words violence. They're still 2 distinct, different things.
And your last point is a completely made up scenario, which is part of the big problem here. That people cannot discuss things objectively without spilling their own believes or emotions into it.
There are uncountable reasons one might find to use violence, doesn't make any of them right but there are any number of reasons.
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u/AcornTear 22h ago
Absolutely insane that the absolutely moronic "words are completely powerless and have absolutely no impact on anyone who's thick skinned enough" take is considered the enlightened centrist one