outing state-destroying moochers via the anonymity of ableism

i want to do a bit of a reality check on this, and hope youll bear with me.

 

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/oehr/article/458971

 

 

Stuff like this kind of cracks me up, pisses me off yes, but also cracks me up. i mean, wtf is wrong with people? But also, it exposes the hypocrisy of so many folks, often well-intended folks. There are a LOT of people who feel this way, to varying degrees, who feel entitled and equipped to differentiate between supposedly “deserving” gimps and “non-deserving” gimps, “the truly (pitiably) disabled”, and “the rest of the moochers”. People do this shit every. single. day. 

So while rightfully judging this asshat (these asshats?) for posting these flyers and threatening people and just being a general shithead,

remember this the next time you side-eye someone you dont think is “worthy” pulling into a disabled parking spot, or taking a disabled / elder seat up front on the bus, or anywhere else disabled folks are supposed to perform for you in order to get something vaguely resembling (though actually really different) the accommodations you take for granted multiple times in a day;

remember every time you judge people waiting at the welfare office, every time you scrutinize what we have in our grocery bags;

remember every time you roll your eyes when i talk about the need for a ramp, for interpretation, for scent reduction, for any of the accommodations i talk about, rolling your eyes and huffing and puffing or secretly fuming and talking to friends about it later;

remember how often no matter how many gimps speak up the ball is still in your court;

remember every time you cringe when someone using a wheelchair gets up out of it to do something;

remember how quickly disabled folks’ supposedly state-destroying pittances are slashed without much or any care as to how we are to manage, and even less care about how many of us dont survive those cuts, like, literally dont survive;

remember the disability-specific education that gets ripped apart (or never gets off the ground at all) when money has to come from somewhere other than government officials pockets;

remember that killing a disabled person is often called “mercy” rather than “murder”.

 

And so on. You get the picture.

If you are shocked by a flyer like this, i’d suggest you’re not paying attention, and i mean that in the kindest way possible. And if you think this isnt simply a reflection of what so many people already think, maybe even you, there is so much more work to do.

And hey, if i thought me receiving a pittance from the government because of the configuration of my body would bring down the state? You can be damn sure i’d be all over that shit.

 

The text reads:”Dear Reader of This Note,There is an intersection between those people who vote and those people who receive public assistance. There are sixteen people in this neighbourhood who vote and receive cash disability payments. The names of these people are being posted where they can be seen by taxpayers and the neighborhood can decide who is truly disabled.Benjamin Franklin said “when the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” Some of us in the neighborhood wish to save this democracy and stand in the way of those who would destroy it.Artemis of the wildland”