William Peace has written a compelling post about “wheelchair dumping” over at Counterpunch.
He wonders why Americans don’t see abuses against people with
disabilities or crimes against the poor or the elderly as civil rights
issues.
The answer is essentially economic: Ronald Reagan taught Americans
that anything having to do with “minorities” costs money. If a thing
costs money, why by God it must be coming out of the pockets of the
middle class.
(The analogy with Fascist Germany’s public insistence that people
with disabilities were “useless eaters” who cost the ordinary German
pocket money isn’t terribly far fetched.)
In turn, after three decades of this commonplace Reganite
sensibility, Americans can no longer afford to use the term “civil
rights” because the very utterance is a disavowal of the comfortable
assumption that social equity costs too much and will rob the suburbs.
This is why Americans only use the term “civil rights” in a
historical context. We only required civil rights in the “old days”
before the GOP fixed everything.
That’s my “take” but have a look at William Peace’s excellent essay.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 
William: I too feel a glacial despair about the state of the world. I am hoping that a pst-theocratic” sensibility will emerge in this country–if not by directional activity then perhaps by capitalist necessity. So one thing that keeps me feeling optimistic is that the business of buying and selling eventually catches on: there’s money to be made saving the planet; a diverse nation is stronger than one that isn’t; better medical care means fewer untreated people with mental illnesses; a healthier citizenry is a full investment in the nation’s future–which leads me back to diversity all over again since people with disabilities, if given the proper opportunities should be celebrated for their abilities to “think outside the box”. So I cling to these small rays of hope, knowing that time may be running out for the planet. Along with my blindness I experience situational depression and I can easily allow the dark signs of our age to stop me in my tracks. I tend in turn to “trick myself” into staying mobile in spirit and purpose. Of course I’m babbling now. That’ always one of the drawbacks to optimism. You drool a lot.
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While I am sorry three of your attempts to respond were deleted, part of me is happy as I thought that I was the only person that happened to. I agree that people are more progressive than many assume even where I reside in the wealthy northern suburb of New York City. Local action is fine and I am active but I want more–I want to see real change occur in my life time. The older I get the more important this becomes. The divide between those who are independent and those who struggle is increasingly stark. Ugh, I am rambling and cannot figure out what I am trying to express.
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Hi William: This is my third attempt to write a reply to your comment. I keep hitting the wrong button and deleting my prose. Each time I write a response to your comment I feel dumber. But here goes: I think that the average citizen in the U.S. is more progressive in her values than the GOP would like to admit; therefore the corporate media is the number one agent of distraction for what the late rock musician Frank Zappa liked to call “the fascist theocracy”. The best answer to this is local action and a rebuilding of union halls, grange halls, the Lyceum movement; anything that promotes ecumenical communitarian possibilities at the local level. Obviously this means the nation needs better public access to the media. I know that I’m still not answering your question. But I’m still pitching!
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I could not have put the above any better myself. You placed my ideas in the larger political context for which I am grateful. But here is my problem: how do we change the sociopolitical perception of all people that are disenfranchised? It is one thing to complain and another to act. I want to act and am not sure how to do so effectively.
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