"Dave Hingsburger pointed out that people with disabilities are the only ones who have scientists with clipboards collecting data on them to prove, scientifically, that freedom is better than captivity."

Oof. This is such a punch-to-the-gut statement that really makes the issue very simple. My grandmother was forcibly institutionalized; when my mother told me about it, she spoke like these things don't happen any more. I reminded her that for some segments of the population, it ISN'T a thing of the past to remove people from their homes and force them into captivity "for their own good."

Also: I thought about you and your posts about disability and social attitudes thereto yesterday when a coworker was telling me about how her mother has degenerative disc disease and recently bought a wheelchair. With a laugh - but you could tell it was kindof an uncomfortable one - she said, "Yeah, she said it makes her back feel so much better, but my stepdad yells at her when she wants to take it out in public and tells her to get up and walk because she's embarrassing him." My jaw about dropped to the floor and it took a moment for me to finally say, "That's... not funny. That's not funny at all. That's HORRIBLE. There is nothing embarrassing about loving someone in a wheelchair, and if it's helping her, his LAST concern should be image." She got very sober-faced at that and said, "Yeah... I mean... he should be pushing it when her arms get tired since she's new to it, not yelling at her." But that's what we do: we laugh it off because we don't want to confront how absolutely fucked up the societal outlook on disability is.