"when people say “the n-word”, that it’s worse than saying the real word" This is exactly how I feel - but I've also seen the circuitous ways in which offensive language evolves. We've seen circles drawn around the negativity of the word "cripple" and its variants. We've seen "queer" move from meaning "unusual in an odd manner" to "nonconforming to a cisgender, heterosexual 'norm' of human identity and behavior", and some urban Americans of sub-Saharan African descent taking that "n" word and making it their own by writing its ending "-a" instead of "-er".
What you write of as "rage culture" has a name: schadenfreude. It means "getting enjoyment (happiness) from someone else's misfortune".
"when people say “the n-word”, that it’s worse than saying the real word" This is exactly how I feel - but I've also seen the circuitous ways in which offensive language evolves. We've seen circles drawn around the negativity of the word "cripple" and its variants. We've seen "queer" move from meaning "unusual in an odd manner" to "nonconforming to a cisgender, heterosexual 'norm' of human identity and behavior", and some urban Americans of sub-Saharan African descent taking that "n" word and making it their own by writing its ending "-a" instead of "-er".
What you write of as "rage culture" has a name: schadenfreude. It means "getting enjoyment (happiness) from someone else's misfortune".
Ha! Very interesting thanks for sharing.