Marta writes:
> > Shows how ingrained it is in the culture doesn't it.
> > Like racism, it takes a while to root out slurs.
One of my disabled friends, who is anything but self-hating, uses the term _lame_ to deprecate bad art frequently, so the word may have different auras for different people; they might not connect it with disability in the political sense.
People who actually deride or discriminate against disabled persons are probably more afraid of them than contemptuous or insensitive, not that this is any reason to tolerate their behavior; but it may suggest different tactics -- affirmative action in preference to hand-wringing and guilt-tripping, for instance.
Jacob Conrad:
> Yeah, it does take a while, and it takes an effort. It means looking at
> yourself in a mirror, and examining your own heart--and changing your
> language, and behavior. It's an effort most people (me included) don't want
> to undertake, because it's so hard. Is that one of the reasons why "the
> left" is unpopular--because "the left" sometimes asks people to do hard
> things? Equality is hard.
It should be easy, shouldn't it? What seems hard to me is the fear, submission, obedience, self-distrust and self- loathing which authority attempts to inculcate. Accordingly a Left which promotes guilt and sorrow among its own is not going to get anywhere. You don't see Marx telling people to feel guilty in the _Communist_Manifesto_. No, he tells them they have nothing to lose but their chains, and a world to win.
-- Gordon