As the blackout in California catches people's attention, I'm seeing (again) parallel conversations. The disability community is saying this level of non-planning in a planned outage is ableism; some able-bodied people are saying "well, this sucks for everyone, stop trying to..."
"...be magically special in being targeted." I don't necessarily blame the able-bodied for being confused. Sometimes you can't see discrimination when it's never impacted your life. I do blame them for not listening to the disability community. When everyone is saying a thing...
...that thing is more likely (not guaranteed) to be true.
So.
How is planning a power outage to keep the state from burning ableism if everyone is losing power?
So.
How is planning a power outage to keep the state from burning ableism if everyone is losing power?
Something is ableist if it unreasonably burdens or punishes a portion of the population for existing in a body that we have not chosen to precisely tailor our environment to suit.
There is probably a better definition out there, but this works for the moment. Building a library without ramps or elevators, requiring patrons to use stairs to access books, is ableist.
Making fun of someone for slurred speech or hyperfocus or not liking that "high-functioning sociopath" shirt you bought at Hot Topic, is ableist.
And yes, insisting that focusing on single-use plastic straws rather than corporate fishing waste is ableist. It puts an unreasonable burden on people who need those straws to drink and participate in the world, while (once again) absolving massive orgs with massive resources.
These power outages are going to kill people. Not just inconvenience: kill.
If your insulin, which is the most expensive in the world, needs to be refrigerated? If you need machines to breathe? Even if you just need a CPAP? This is an unfair burden.
If your insulin, which is the most expensive in the world, needs to be refrigerated? If you need machines to breathe? Even if you just need a CPAP? This is an unfair burden.
We've been talking about disabled characters in post-apocalyptic fiction, and how we will always be present, but one of the things about a post-apocalypse is that those stores are built on a bed of bones, always.
Saying "If you need electricity to live, call 911 and use your own resources to go to the hospital" might--MIGHT--work in a country with guaranteed health care. But it's going to put some people in the position of choosing between their lives and their family's financial future.
And we've seen enough deaths from insulin rationing now to know how most of us will choose.
So yes, this is ableist; this is going to impact the disabled, the unwell (not always the same thing), the elderly, and the very young to a disproportionate degree.
And this DIDN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN. PG&E was given money to fix the wires that have been setting the state ablaze. They gave that money to their executives. How many dead diabetics is one big bonus worth? Guess we find out soon.
This is why we need regulation and oversight. People like to yell about "the nanny state," but if California had been able to force PG&E to use that money for repairs and maintenance, we might not be looking down the barrel of a crisis.
Ableism kills.
