China Fascism weeds out the "unfit" from higher education

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Sun Jun 24 16:23:39 PDT 2001



>Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
> > >Yes, the Chinese government will let the disabled live out their lives -
>> >uneducated and without children - but to terminate their genetic line with
>> >their deaths.
>>
>> The word "humane" is not the one I used; I simply said, "Deplorable,
>> yes, but not fascist & better than many underdeveloped nations." How
>> do you think the disabled live in nations with economic development
>> comparable to or worse than China? Are they all admitted to
>> universities, well employed, & married with children if they want to,
> > unlike the disabled in China?
>
>No, but wouldn't we expect more from a Marxist state that this? Cuba,
>for instance, does not practice eugenics.
>
>Marta

The Marxist rhetoric still lives on in China, but I think China is going through gradual but inexorable transition to capitalism, with attendant changes in the treatment of the disabled, in some respects for better (e.g., slowly increasing recognition of the rights of the disabled, fostered by such powerful leaders as Deng Pufeng, a son of Deng Xiaoping, codified in the 1991 anti-discrimination law; improving educational access in urban areas; transition from paternalistic segregation to movements toward integration & proportional employment; etc.), in other respects for worse (e.g., the collapse of state-subsidized "welfare factories" under the market reform [Cf. Erik Eckholm, "China's Disabled Are Victims of a New Economy," _New York Times_ 25 January 1999: A3]; worsening living conditions in rural areas; etc.).

Cuba is much better than China, but it too has had problems with the treatment of the disabled: no law that mandates accessible buildings & transportations; paternalistic segregation of the HIV positive (though now it is "voluntary"); etc. Economic problems since the collapse of the Eastern bloc have put severe constraints upon Cuba's health & nutrition programs, though it is valiantly defending egalitarian practices that have been the pride of the Cuban revolution.

Yoshie



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