The War on Disabled People

The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

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This was a very difficult read for me but is essential reading for everyone 5 ⭐️

Bookwomble I'm very slowly reading this: I get about five pages along each time I pick it up, but have to stop because I feel so angry! 2y

Cazxxx @Bookwomble I feel that. It took me months to get through it! A hard read but a very important book 2y

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Cazxxx

The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

As a chronically ill/disabled person I can confirm this is true and the worst offenders, in my experience, have been medical professionals

TEArificbooks Oh yes. I have literally had doctors say “you can‘t feel that way”. My pain is constantly ignored and not believed. To top that off my disability is a unicorn disease so most doctors have never even heard it making it impossible to treat me. 2y

Cazxxx @TEArificbooks I‘m so sorry that you‘ve had to deal with that kind of treatment. Things are bad enough for us without the constant medical gas lighting and lack of empathy from doctors. Sending you strength and solidarity 2y

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

102 pages in, and 102 reasons to despise the incumbent Westminster government. As an abled person I'm finding it somewhat traumatic to read, hence my slow progress. I can barely imagine what it's been like for vulnerable disabled people to actually live through it 😔

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

"Part II: Targeting Disabled People: Retrogressive legislation and policy since 2010"
I'm sending Frankie to get me the tranquillisers I'm going to need to get through this section on - what has been in all but name - the Tories' 21st century eugenics programme ???

Riveted_Reader_Melissa I don‘t even think they would get me through…. I‘m in the US and I know it‘s bad here. 2y

arlenefinnigan Their war on the disabled has been downright immoral. My cousin's son had to be interviewed by the DWP when he turned 18 to assess his eligibility for benefits. He's severely autistic, entirely non-verbal and needs 24 hour care. My friend had to have annual assessments for PIP until recently. She's had both legs amputated. It's not like they'll grow back. 2y

Bookwomble @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I can only read a few pages at a time 😤 2y

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Bookwomble @arlenefinnigan It's a deliberate act of oppression to discourage people from claiming. It's outrageous! I hope you relative and friend get the support they're entitled to, Arlene. 2y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa @arlenefinnigan very similar here. Disability payments are also way below the poverty line once you qualify, so you also need to fill out tons of other paperwork annually to apply for everything from food assistance to housing assistance, which requires so much info it is definitely to dissuade people from applying or prevent people without the eons worth of patience & ability it requires to fill out. Even with all that the housing subsidy ⤵️ (edited) 2y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa They will only approve a limit based on your base “income”, so you have to find an apartment that will take an amount lower than every other apartment in the county offers and is willing to do the paperwork required, and hopefully is on the first floor with washing machines and will accept a pet cat or 2. 🙄 it‘s like sending the disabled that can‘t get around well on a wild goose chase for a unicorn, but if they can‘t find & catch it…they ⤵️ (edited) 2y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa ↪️ …obviously they don‘t really want it bad enough. (edited) 2y

quirkyreader Also in the States, if you have disability and work, you can only work so much. If you go over your allotted time, bad things happen. 2y

Bookwomble @quirkyreader International Crap Government Policy Decisions is the worst set of Top Trumps cards ever! Sadly, our respective governments seem to have the same playbook 😕 2y

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

"The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the Feeble-Minded and Insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among all the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks constitutes a national and race danger which it is impossible to exaggerate."
- Winston Churchill, in a letter to Prime Minister Asquith, advocating the forced sterilisation of disabled people. Not my idea of a national hero.

Aimeesue Ugh. Oliver Wendell Holmes was no peach either. Buck v Bell: "It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind." 2y

TrishB 😢😡 same. As in I agree with your final statement. (edited) 2y

batsy Yup. Then, there's this https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contrib... It does not add up to at all a pretty picture. 2y

Bookwomble @Aimeesue @trishb @batsy Selective historical memory does wonders for a person's legacy, and as Churchill said, history will remember me kindly, for I intend to write it, and he did. The Bengal Famine is horrific in that it wasn't an unintended consequence of British policy, but actually was the policy 😔 2y

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

"Knowing our history is important. It helps us understand that what we face in our current time is socially constructed and can therefore be altered. It gives us greater insights into the workings of the forces that oppress us. It gives us evidence with which to challenge the myths and false assumptions that dominate popular ideas about disability. Lessons from the past can help us shape and build a more effective resistance in the present.”✊

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

"The book...draws a distinction between impairment and disability. Disability consists of the barriers that a person with impairment experiences as a result of the way in which society is organised that excludes or devalues them...Preferred terminology in Britain is to describe people as disabled - because they are disabled by society - not people 'with disabilities', which makes no sense from a social model [of disability] perspective."

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Bookwomble

War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

I'm expecting to be saddened and enraged in equal measure by this one. Written in 2020, the recent callous pronouncements by the UK's current Prime Sinister on cutting back on "handouts" shows how viciously the present adminstration is still prepared to wage their class war against those people society has made amongst its most vulnerable.

TrishB I‘m saddened and enraged with you 😞 2y

Aimeesue I'm a "support coordinator" for kids with developmental disabilities in a southern US state. Here, states manage their own eligibility rules for Medicaid supports for people, and what funding you're eligible for depends on what state you're in. I've watched over the years as the requirements grow stricter and more exclusionary. It's APPALLING. 2y

vivastory @Aimeesue It's truly atrocious. The number of basic services that are no longer covered under Medicaid, yet they are mandated by DMH guidelines. Even basic services like vaccines. 2y

Bookwomble @TrishB @Aimeesue @vivastory This is how late stage capitalism treats what it perceives as non-productive work units. 2y

Aimeesue @Bookwomble Yep. Which means almost every one of us at some point in our lives. Everybody's horrified at the way people with disabilities were treated in the past, when it comes to concentration camps and forced sterilisation, but apparently are OK with killing people s l o w l y by exclusionary govt regulation. (edited) 2y

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Bookwomble

The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe | Ellen Clifford

Home after our jaunt to Manchester, a wonderful city to visit. Stretched the book-buying amnesty with a quick dive into The People's History Museum, where I bought the tagged book and Philosophy of Care. The Bowie was the final straw, so no acquisitions from the Pankhurst Centre, but an inspiring place see. Popped into Bird and Blend and popped out with Mojitea (green tea, mint & lime), to go with the peppermint chocolate from Hotel Chocolat 😌

Hanna-B My niece gave me that Bowie book 2y

Bookwomble @Hanna-B You've got a good niece 😊💖 2y

TrishB A great day out 👍🏻 2y

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Bookwomble @TrishB It was, Trish 😊 Our son suggested Bundobust as a good place to have lunch: small-dish Indian street food, which was fantastic. They've got one on Bold Street, Liverpool, too 😋 2y

TrishB I love Bundobust ❤️ fab food! 2y

Bookwomble @TrishB 😁👍🏻 2y

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