It has been brought to the mods attention that ableist language is a problem in this forum. Hopefully this will inform everyone and clear some things up.

What is Ableism?

For those who are uniformed, what is Ableism? Lets first find that handy dictionary:

[< ABLE adj. + -ISM suffix, after RACISM n., SEXISM n.2, etc. Compare ABLEIST adj., and also earlier ABLED adj. 2, ABLED n.] orig. U.S. Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people; prejudice against or disregard of the needs of disabled people.

"I'm not in favor of that!" You might say, but lets remember that speech is an action that can either be used to oppress or liberate. It is easy to forget that when we speak, we act. Using words like "crazy" to refer to something bad implies that having that disability is a mistake or failing, rather than an uncontrollable factor (Can you control your race? Same idea).

Examples

Lets look at some examples:

First,

Those Capitalists, they are so crazy!

By using the word "Crazy" to refer to groups that the user disagrees with, it is implied (whether he/she knows it or not) that being "crazy" (mentally disabled) is bad.

Second,

This thread is so lame!

You might not know it, but some words that are in the modern vernacular are ableist. In this example, lame is used. "Lame" is used to refer to people with mobility disabilities. Here, the user is using "lame" to describe the inferior quality of the thread, and implies that "lame" people carry similar qualities.

What Can I do to stop this/what other words can I use?

First, you need to know which words are ableist, and which are not. Once you have that figured out, then you need to stop using Ableist speech, and urge others to stop using it as well. Moderators will be paying attention to Ableist language and banning it from now on.

It might be hard to discern which words are ableist, and which are not, but there are many resources available on the internet:

Here are some of my favorites:

Asinine Insipid Vapid confused mislead uniformed the eye of satan's butthole

Starmeleon approved:

Starmeleon has been informed that these may be ableist, so they are now cancelled. Please alert the moderators to any other ableist speech. fool obtuse

Again: Moderators have been alerted to this issue, and will be sure to ban ableist speech in the future, as it is oppressive (and against the rules).

Don't fuck this up or else we'll switch to newspeak.