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<blockquote type="cite" cite>For Marta, and the list.<br>
<br>
Jenny K came into the shop this afternoon just after I posted on
this<br>
thread from work. She is one of DREDF's lawyers. I asked her if
she<br>
knew you (Marta), but I don't think you've met. In any event I
also<br>
tried to get her to explain what happened to the DREDF
international<br>
law project, but couldn't get much of an answer.<br>
<br>
Last year DREDF had a DOJ(?) project to make recommendations on
creating<br>
guidelines for international disability law. I have no idea what
they</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>covered. Do you? (I should know, but I
don't)</blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>See http://www.dredf.org/symposium/index.html</div>
<div><font size="-4" color="#000000">The UN convention on the rights
of disabled people proposed as a part of the plan is being
obstructed. There is a battle going on to get a
convention.</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
In any event, in some talks with Mary Lou last year, I remember<br>
worrying about some of the possible problems with any
international<br>
disability law guidelines lead by the US government.<br>
<br>
My biggest worry was that the US privatized social services system<br>
with its giant healthcare industry, HMOs, private equipment
dealers,<br>
obnoxious home care agencies, filthy for profit nursing homes,
greedy<br>
drug companies, etc, etc, would become central to any US
international<br>
development policy. That developing legal guidelines in this area<br>
might neatly tie (perhaps inadvertently) into the on-going US<br>
neoliberal drives to project these same US corporate healthcare
models<br>
into various trade and economic policy agreements and become the
de<br>
facto international standard.<br>
<br>
The underlying argument goes something like this. Privatizing
social<br>
support services takes disability out of the medical model and puts
it<br>
into the consumer model. And that is supposed to be
progress.</blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Yes I agree that this is a large failing. But I have
complained in writing about the fact that the DRM takes the market as
a given and only demands right to access services and consumer
direction, but doesn't really confront the economics or structure of
those capitalist institutions. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But since the state welfare and social service agencies have been
a large part of the oppression, that is not a place to go for progress
either. One activist just wrote me that " the left is
saturated with social workers, educators, unions, and philanthropests,
the very people fighting inclusion and are the heart of compassionate
oppression... Unions, both social worker and hands on
staff are big supporters of institutions, teachers have as a group
fought mainstreaming, and social workers, well when I figure out how
they help I will let you know."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So how do we get there from here? It is a big big
question.</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
Well, whatever is right and wrong about this argument has to be<br>
injected into the anti-globalization movements and hashed out there
by<br>
disabled advocates. The goal would be that some consensus arises
from<br>
both the developed world's progressive community and the
developing<br>
world's advocates to counter what I would expect to be a future
of</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>brutal repercussions and
consequences---if that doesn't happen.</blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Where does one hash this out?</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
I can see the potential to co-oped any established disability<br>
centered radicalism by US neoliberal policy makers, using the<br>
so-called great successes of the US on disability rights as the<br>
justification for exporting a really heinous privatized healthcare<br>
and social services system.</blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I agree most certainly. It has already happened to some
degree. But we have the centrist DRM advocates at the helm, just
like the current Dems are run by the neoliberal centrists. Who
put them there. Duh, they get appointed. </div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The only way I can see to prevent this
kind of duplicity is for more</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>disabled advocacy groups to link with the
anti-globalization</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>movements---or whatever you want to call
the whole counter-culture</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>that is co-evolving with globalized
neoliberalism.</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>I am all for that. The question is how does it form?
Do you have an email address for Jenny K?</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
So all that was the background to my obnoxious comment earlier
this</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>afternoon. </blockquote>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<div>I missed that one.<br>
</div>
<div>Marta</div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>Marta Russell<br>
Los Angeles, CA<br>
http://www.disweb.org</div>
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