Every insult marginalizes ever person it applies to.

sure, what's your point?

That’s because there’s a language taboo.

Yes! It’s by implication saying smart people are more valuable than dumb people. Otherwise it wouldn’t be an insult.

And valuable insinuates a capitalist mindset. Recognizing how smart someone is doesn't mean you're about to sell em.

It's quite anachronistic by now, but idiot was originally a medical term for the mentally disabled that became an insult, so not the best history there. Not sure about moron, that sounds like it could be named after a specific person tbh (which wouldn't be great either).

no. it's because all the other things you mention have never been marginalised by law, and people haven't been systematically killed over it
As I said, I was distinguishing between people who are just dumb (they have never been marginalised in the way I mention above) and people who are intellectually disabled. Are idiot and moron just calling someone dumb? Or is it specifically related to a disability?

My point is we pick and choose what insults are acceptable based on social norms not on how much pain they inflict on the disenfranchised. So really I’m not that impressed with people getting all outraged about the word n igger when the way they think about language tells me if the lived 60 years ago they’d be using it as a matter of course. Because it’s just following social norms not genuinely reflecting on what’s right and wrong.

I know this argument will likely get me nowhere because **** that makes people really look in the mirror rarely does.

Don't we require social norms to recognize who's disenfranchised as well as what's right and wrong?

Idk, both ***got and retard are normal slurs to me and things I was raised using but me choosing not to use them often despite them being socially normal is my way of looking in the mirror.

see my last post

most truly affective insults have collateral damage

You mentioned previously you already acknowledge this but you draw a line somewhere so you see the f word as worse than bitch etc. I agree. I just have as different line than you. I wouldn't call someone the n word regardless of the context. It's bad enough that I don't use it. I used bitch more liberally than the f word. Same with retard. Even less serious are words like stupid, dumb, blind, etc. I don't disagree some words are more harmful than others. But all of these words embrace stigmas and stereotypes that affect entire groups of people. So we both have a line. My line is different from yours.