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ZorbaTHut  2yr ago (text post)   35602 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 26, 2022

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dregs

I'm really not too clear on what exactly the term implies in this context. If it's taken as implying low socioeconomic productive value (not status, mind - the disabled seem to have fairly high status, at least as an abstract group), then I think it's correct. Many kinds of severe disability will turn an otherwise productive citizen into a net drain, and it takes great effort to compensate if it is not outright impossible. Many disabled people simply cannot overcome their disability and contribute more to society than they cost it, economically and otherwise, and in that sense they are comparable to the meth addict you brought forth.

Still, it's a harsh choice of words.

Well, it is normally not taken merely to mean low value, but rather of no value. A quick Google of the term turns up this definition: "the most worthless part or parts of something. [eg:] 'the dregs of society.'" And the synonyms listed are: scum. refuse, rabble, vermin, down-and-outs, good-for-nothings. And note that the most literal definition of dregs is the stuff you throw out.

As for context, here is his exact quote:

The crippled are innately worse people. They are crippled. Those who rise above their limitation through hard work and grit warrant a certain respect, but for the most part, the broken are gross. Being hovered over by a super autist is uncomfortable. Watching a kid with a Downy stroke-face flip his shit is uncomfortable. Seeing some strung-out junkie piss himself on a bus arouses disgust.

If you can't acknowledge that the dregs of society are in fact viscerally repulsive, then tolerating them is no sign of virtue. Of course you tolerate them. They're fine, apparently!

And, of course, when I pointed out that "The OP explicitly referred not to 'the dregs of society' but rather to average handicapped persons," he replied, "Same thing."

So, while I understand the desire to be charitable, it seems pretty clear that he was indeed using the standard definition of the dregs of society, and that he is probably engaged in chain-yanking.

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