Subvert
Transitive verb.
1: to overturn or overthrow from the foundation: Ruin.
2: to pervert or corrupt by an undermining of morals, allegiance, or faith.
– subverter, noun.
[Origin: Middle English, from Anglo-French subvertir, from Latin subvertere, literally, to turn from beneath, from sub– + vertere to turn.]
(14th Century)
It was “an evil of such magnitude as to threaten the moral, social and national life of our country,” the handiwork of publishers with “diabolical intent” to “weaken morality and thereby destroy religion and subvert the social order.” – The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, David Hadju.
I have Hajdu’s book on hold at the library.
It’s interesting, but it’s also the same old song, there’s always something which is targeted as the horrible cause of moral degeneration. The most interesting part, I found, was comics coinciding with the very beginning of youth defining itself and becoming their own category, rather than just “shut up and prepare for adulthood” age.