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capri0mniThis is a "chat" I posted to my Tumblr, today. And I'm posting it now, in response to This story segment from dialecticdreamer, and the ensuing discussion.
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Wheelchair Manufacturer: We won't sell you one unless Medicare will pay for it*
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: It's 40 feet from my front door to my bedroom...
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: I can, but it's excruciatingly painful, my balance is terrible, and I risk falling at every step.
Medicare: Then No.
Disabled Person: Why not?
Medicare: We're running out of money. The Baby Boomers are getting old and sick. And the Gen X'ers and Millennials are not reproducing. Very sorry. Have a nice day.
800K Gen-X & Millennial "Dreamers": Hey! we're paying into Social Security!
Medicare: You don't count.
110K Refugee Applicants: We want to come into your country, and contribute to your economy, including helping to pay for Social Security. Please let us in?
Federal Government: No!
Disabled Person: I still need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Very sorry. Absolutely nothing we can do.
Disabled Person: ...
"Dreamers": ...
Refugees: ...
Medicare: Buh-bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
*Footnote: Even if you are wealthy enough to purchase a wheelchair out-of-pocket, many suppliers still require proof of insurance. And even private insurers copy Medicare's policies when it comes medical equipment and mobility aids.
dialecticdreamer, and the ensuing discussion.Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Wheelchair Manufacturer: We won't sell you one unless Medicare will pay for it*
Disabled Person: I need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: It's 40 feet from my front door to my bedroom...
Medicare: Can you walk 20 feet?
Disabled Person: I can, but it's excruciatingly painful, my balance is terrible, and I risk falling at every step.
Medicare: Then No.
Disabled Person: Why not?
Medicare: We're running out of money. The Baby Boomers are getting old and sick. And the Gen X'ers and Millennials are not reproducing. Very sorry. Have a nice day.
800K Gen-X & Millennial "Dreamers": Hey! we're paying into Social Security!
Medicare: You don't count.
110K Refugee Applicants: We want to come into your country, and contribute to your economy, including helping to pay for Social Security. Please let us in?
Federal Government: No!
Disabled Person: I still need a wheelchair.
Medicare: Very sorry. Absolutely nothing we can do.
Disabled Person: ...
"Dreamers": ...
Refugees: ...
Medicare: Buh-bye! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
*Footnote: Even if you are wealthy enough to purchase a wheelchair out-of-pocket, many suppliers still require proof of insurance. And even private insurers copy Medicare's policies when it comes medical equipment and mobility aids.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-16 10:29 am (UTC)I believe keeping marginalized people "in their place" is the primary goal. And that ableism/disablism (the two are almost, but not quite, synonymous) is the mechanism by which it's done.
Because it's not just about the money. It's also about power and status.
A couple of "Blogging Against Disablism Day"s ago (May 1, 2016 -- aka "BADD"), Mel Baggs wrote this essay: There us ableism somewhere at the heart of your oppression, no matter what your oppression might be.
And this last spring, I made a infographic in response.
Y'see, when people in power have a set of ability-based criteria (either consciously chosen at a moment in history, when it suits them, or inherited from the past and accepted), then:
A) They have a "rational and logical" reason to say: "These people aren't good enough. They don't belong. I'm just stating facts."
and
B) Because it is true that a person with an injured spine can't walk, no one calls that out as "bigotry."
also
C) Because every demographic of people has disabled people within it, people in other groups are more likely to believe the bigoted claims, and so marginalized people are less willing to unite, and work together (Q.V. in American history -- the one I was educated in -- how the white suffragette movement fought to exclude black women -- viciously). -- "Well, at least I'm better than them!"
Not to mention, within each group the disabled are still marginalized when it comes to activism.
---
So Ableism is the longest lever / biggest gear in the "Divide and Conquer" machine, allowing the privileged normates to consolidate money (and power) for themselves.