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| ID: | 1618 | | Title: | Hierarchy of life - http://thiswayoflife.org/blog/?p=187 | | Description: | A friend is writing an ethics paper looking at the issue of disability and the value of life. In response to her, and also because I think this is a very important topic, I’ve posted it here as well. She asked me, specifically, to talk about some of the cultural (disability culture in this case) elements involved with such hierarchies.
The first thing that comes to my mind, as far as cultural consideration, is the horrors that disabled people experienced in the holocaust, under the Nazi T4 program. Not only were we “euthanized”, but we were also used for so-called medical experimentation. People with physical and mental disability were given experimental drugs, subjected to extreme air pressures, starved, had their blood replaced with other chemicals, used as forced labor, and many other unspeakable horrors. Most of these were exceedingly painful.
But of course the program didn’t start with these things, nor end with these things. We are all aware of the end - the mass execution of millions of Jews, the majority of which were not disabled. The killing and abuse of disabled people was, in this sense, a gateway, a way of testing methods of mass killing and gaining community support for the idea that some people were more expensive and used more resources than others. In the beginning of this program, school children would be taught about the “cost” of disabled people, and how any pure German who faced poverty could blame the fact that tremendous government resources were spent on “those people”, who of course were seen as very different from “pure Germans”. As this progressed, combined with input from both the Nazi establishment and US eugenic movement, sterilization was chosen as one solution to the problem - stop those with “bad genes” from reproducing. In many cases, this sterilization was done without even the knowledge of the disabled person or their families. As time went on, however, this progressed to the full T4 program, in which perhaps millions of disabled people were eventually killed.
Because of this history, it’s very uncomfortable to disabled people - just as it would be to a Jew - when life is valued differently based on characteristics such as disability or race.
Another important aspect is the social model of disability. In this model, essentially, everyone has needs. Few people can, for instance, grow their own food in society today. However, we have significant accommodations in society, all of which cost a tremendous amount of money, to provide food to those who are “food growing challenged”. This “special” accommodation requires millions of over-the-road vehicles, millions of workers, a vast majority of the planet’s land, hundreds of thousands of ships, hundreds of thousands of rail cars, government subsidies of farmers and transportation routes, and a multi-level distribution system to ensure that the food gets to those who need it. It’s an incredible logistical challenge to ensure all of us non-growers can eat, and the “cost” to society is tremendous. It’s important to notice, too, that once the food is eaten, it no longer serves any productive value to society - in fact it’s now a health hazard, a waste product. It’s simply consumed.
Yet, growing food isn’t seen as an “accommodation”. Only things that are “non-normal” are seen as accommodations, and then only when the person receiving them lacks sufficient social status (such as being a person with a disability). For example, it’s considered an accommodation - even shameful - for a person labeled with mental retardation to need someone else to cook food for them, so that they remain fed and safe. Yet, I imagine that President Bush does relatively little cooking. I imagine the President is not alone in this, at least not among the peer group of rich Americans. I imagine that the President also receives many other “accommodations”, such as not carrying even his own money or passport with him - other people provide that service to him.
One of the arguments made is that the cost of accommodation of disability is exceedingly high. Facts, however, disagree. Typically, the cost of accommodating a disability is significantly less than the cost of providing this incredibly complex food distribution network. In the area of employment, the Job Accommodation Network indicates that most job-related accommodations cost less than $500. These are not major expenses compared to the cost of ensuring you have food, heat, and water - simply because you cannot get these things on your own. The difference is the social stigma attached to accommodations, and the determination of what accommodations are “acceptable” - that is, what accommodations are a “cost” and which ones are not. A grocery store isn’t seen as a “cost” to society, while someone to cut up your food so you don’t choke is, etc.
The idea with the social model is, essentially, that society, not mental or physical capability, is what defines disability. The fact that society doesn’t routinely remove barriers is the reason that these barriers are a problem.
I’ve written on these things before. Specifically, for accommodations:
What is an accommodation? This entry talks about the social model of disability accommodation.
Our Cost to Society - $3 Million USD. In this, I respond to research talking about how autistic people’s cost to society is $3 million during their lifetime, and why that’s not the case. I speculate that Henry Ford probably cost society much more than this amount! (Source: NTs Are Weird) | | Category: | Autism | | Link Owner: | | | Date Added: | June 17, 2007 04:51:26 PM | | Number Hits: | 0 | | |
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