We have a lot of discussions here about dismantling hierarchies, fighting oppression, and being intentional about the language we use around race, gender, sexuality, colonialism, and other forms of oppression. I think disability deserves the same attention. Unfortunately, asking people here to take ableism seriously is more often than not treated as an unreasonable request. Those who raise the issue are dismissed as overly sensitive, and ableism is treated as somehow less important or less worthy of discussion than other forms of oppression.
Ableist terms and ideas are harmful because they reinforce the idea that disability is something shameful, contemptible, or simply useful to use as a catch-all insult to attack people you disagree with.
Most people don't consciously mean "disabled people are inferior" when they use these terms. But language doesn't only communicate intention... it also reflects and reproduces social attitudes. If the worst thing you can call someone is a word associated with intellectual disability, mental illness, or physical disability, then those conditions are turned into shorthand for being worthless or deserving of ridicule. By using them, you're saying that disability is something shameful, something beneath you, contemptible, disgusting.
From an anarchist perspective, this matters because ableism is a clear system of domination. Both capitalism and mainstream socialism have the tendency to value people based on their productivity in the workplace. States and industrialists decide whose lives are worth supporting and whose are disposable. Disabled people are routinely excluded from housing, employment, education, organizing spaces, and mutual aid projects that don't consider accessibility.
If we're serious about opposing social hierarchy and domination, we shouldn't reproduce systems that rank people by cognitive ability, mental health, or physical capacity. We should also obviously avoid promoting eugenics or similar views that paint disability as something undesirable that needs to be left behind (anarcho-transhumanists are often guilty of this).
I know a lot of people argue that words change meaning over time or that intent is all that matters. There's some truth to the idea that language evolves. But if members of a marginalized group tell you that your particular way of speaking contributes to a culture that devalues or excludes them, it's worth taking that seriously. Avoiding a handful of insults... not denigrating people's ability and intelligence ultimately costs us very little. Making this space more welcoming and accessible to disabled anarchists is a meaningful pursuit. Being a little more thoughtful about the language we use seems like a small ask if we genuinely care about building inclusive, anti-hierarchical communities where all anarchists can feel comfortable contributing to the discussion.
We need to ask ourselves why we reach for disability as a metaphor for ignorance, incompetence, irrationality, greed or neglect in the first place. There are plenty of more precise words available. Instead of saying someone is "stu***," you can say they're uninformed, dishonest, reckless, hypocritical, sycophantic, an enabler, or acting in bad faith. These words accurately describe what someone is actually doing rather than equating disability with some kind of moral failing. It not only avoids scapegoating marginalized people, but also improves our arguments and our critical thinking skills.
None of us grew up outside of ableist culture. We all have habits we're trying to unlearn. Challenging ableist language isn't about proving who's the most "woke"; it's about aligning our everyday practices with the anti-hierarchical values all anarchists should hold.
So I'm asking people here to extend the same consideration to disabled people that we try to extend to other marginalized groups. Listen when disabled members of this space raise concerns. Don't attack people (including our exhausted and thankless moderators) for asking you to be more considerate in your use of language. Think about the words you choose. If a small change in our language can make this community more welcoming without costing us anything meaningful, why wouldn't we make that change? Why wouldn't anarchists want to make an effort to dismantle oppressive constructs?