Linkspam: Unspeakable Conversations

[davidgillon]

"He insists he doesn't want to kill me. He simply thinks it would have been better, all things considered, to have given my parents the option of killing the baby I once was, and to let other parents kill similar babies as they come along and thereby avoid the suffering that comes with lives like mine "

It's 12 years old, but I'd somehow never seen this article before as Disability Rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson from the US branch of Not Dead Yet takes on arch-eugenicist Professor Peter Singer in his own den at Princeton. It's interesting to note that even Singer, supposedly one of the most brilliant philosophers of his generation, succumbs to the intellectual laziness of categorising opposition to his views as being solely on a religious basis, and imagery of disability Johnson categorises as 'right out of the telethon', never mind the petty argument in which he tries to insist that she be addressed as Ms, while he be addressed as Professor. I think it's brilliantly well done, but I do think she lets Singer off too easily at the end when deciding he's ignorant, rather than evil. Singer's position starts in ignorance, but in refusing to rise above his ignorance, and in seeking to actively promote his views he crosses the line into being actively evil. (It's also bad science, because the entire structure is built on the false premise a disabled life is a worthless one, and we keep telling him that's not so, but he won't listen).

Comments

[capri0mni]

I read that article ... three(?)-ish years ago, I think it was.

I agree with you that the "He's just ignorant, not evil," argument is a cop-out. But it's a stance that those of our generation who grew up with a disability were taught to take. It may have been self-taught.

After all, if the disgust and anger in other people's gazes only stems from ignorance, than even as an eight year old child surrounded by adults who hold the value of her life in contempt, still has what it takes to protect herself. 'Cause all it takes to cure ignorance is patience, and the right metaphors, to lead the audience by the hand to a new (and safer) understanding.

It's a stance I, myself, held for most of my life, and only started to let go of recently, once I connected to a world-wide disability community via the Internet, so it was "just me," anymore.

[jesse_the_k]

I am so glad that the net has brought you a different perspective! And we're the better for it.

[capri0mni]

I am so glad that the net has brought you a different perspective!

Me, too. :-) It's like a mirror, in a way. I can see the room I'm in without it. But the mirror helps me see my position in that room (society, nation, world).

[jesse_the_k]

Here, have 42 great metaphor points!

100 points gets you something much like a Crackerjack prize.

[capri0mni]

\o/ 42! Almost nearly there1

I was inspired by two things: 1) An article about Michele Foucault I read, recently, that talked about how he used the idea of mirrors to explain his idea of heterotopias, and 2) the Irish proverb: A friend's eye is a good mirror (a friend will tell you when you have spinach in your teeth, but won't remind you that you're looking older than you did ten years ago).

[davidgillon]

It's like a mirror, in a way. I can see the room I'm in without it. But the mirror helps me see my position in that room (society, nation, world).

Fantastic observation!

[capri0mni]

Thank you!

[untonuggan]

Am I a bad person if I hope that Singer experiences disability first-hand and it changes his perspective?

[jesse_the_k]

You'll have lots of company in that desire.

Actually, he has spoken about end-of-life decisions in relation to his mother, who is/was gravely ill. But no news of dramatic changes of heart, so I haven't bothered to follow up with what he's actually said.

[jesse_the_k]

I had a lovely post with all sorts of links and it was eaten by gremlins. So I'll let you do the searching (you're pretty darn good at it). I was privileged to be part of a "disability rights media support" listserv where Johnson was a member: she was damn funny in private as well. There was quite a stink in caucus and nationally about whether encountering Singer was to acknowledge that his point of view was debatable. In the grand Dick Godwin tradition, many activists privately shouted "You wouldn't debate Joseph Goebbels, would you?" Harriet was confident she could get the better of the situation; I know that this article is taught in rhetoric classes, so perhaps she gets her revenge in the end?

Her essay collection, Too Late to Die Young is wonderful. She brought insight and humor and wisdom to every topic, and there's a wide range in that book. Besides the Singer essay, she has some amazing stories! She was part of "Jerry's Orphans," former poster children who protested every Labor Day weekend when Jerry Lewis, a washed-up comedian, led a high-pressure telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. She was a party leader in her hometown Charleston, South Carolina and brought a delegation to the Democratic National Convention.

Her YA novel, Accidents of Nature explores a summer camp experience from the pov of a young woman with CP, meeting other disabled people for the first time. Friendship and hierarchies and mutual aid and some snogging and generally lovely.