I'm a woman, a mum, a friend, as well as a writer & poet, who's severely disabled - into healthy eating on a budget, (I've dropped 86 pounds so far since Aug 2015), disability politics and studying for an MA in English Literature - Creative Writing and the Award in Education and Training (AET formally known as PTLLS) to teach adults in the Life Long Learning Sector. I'm passionate to fight and support those fighting the cuts to social care and the welfare state.
A interesting and provocative blog post from simonstevens74 . To go the original article click here
I am ‘really disabled’ and I feel pushed out of society by Labour
simonstevens74
Welfare benefits for people with impairments are once again in the media with the political correct left attacking the government for not implementing changes to PIP to ensure more people with lesser impairments can receive it. The government is, in my opinion, quite right to say that in a world of limited resources that the distribution should be towards people with high needs, termed ‘the really disabled’.
I have accepted for many years that everyone has one or more impairments, and in the spirit of the social model, which has now been long abandoned by most activists, not every impairment results in social disadvantage or ‘disability’. Benefits are one (passive) solution of many that can enable people with impairments to reclaim their social inclusion. People experiencing anxiety may require assistance to build their confidence and increase their skills and tools, which a passive amount of benefit may simply be unable to deliver.
But when Labour and its associated activists continue to label ever increasing numbers of people with biological differences (impairments) as defective who should be automatically thrown on the scrapheap, the question is how does the party intend to pay for this bigoted warehousing? And this week they have provided a clue, take it away from ‘the really disabled’, people with high support needs, including myself.
People with high support needs, people like myself, do not currently have any voice in the politics of disability, which is now dominated by people with lesser impairments. Taking tablets and having stress is the new ’sexy’ disability as films like ‘I, Daniel Blake’ triumphantly portrays. The really disabled have been swept under the carpet, the property of our ‘carers’ who can do whatever they want with us because ‘they save the government money’. We are seen as naturally beyond the help of employment support, undesired by activists and user-led organisations as much as anyone else. Our rights are ironically abused and ignored in the name of our rights!
We can see Labour’s true agenda when we understand it is Labour and not the Tories who support assisted suicide, a polite way of saying the murder of people with impairments should be legalised because the quality of life of ‘the really disabled’ makes them better off dead. The public is quietly pushed to support this cost-saving measure as ‘disabled’ activists like Peter Beresford invites more debate of whether people like myself should be killed.
So not only does Labour want me excluded from society based on the same bigotry that existed in 1930s Nazi Germany, as well as everywhere else, but in order to balance the books in its promises to people with lesser impairments, it has a vested interest to implement an eugenics programme for those people with impairments it regards as beyond help.
When leading human rights activists like Neil Crowther as stated to me the needs of people with high support needs are less important than the desires of people with lesser impairments, and organisations like Scope has abandoned us for being unmarketable years ago, the divisions between the two groups are growing. Political Correctness is not interested in the appropriate distribution of resources, they think anyone who has an impairment deserves benefits to make them disappear, which means everyone basically!
A thought provoking article from Michele Kaplan (the link to her blog is at the end of the article)
Is Veganism Ableist? A Disabled Vegan Perspective
By Michele Kaplan Author’s note: While I am still vegan, it’s been over a year that my primary focus (for many reasons) as an activist is no longer animal rights/liberation. As a disabled person, I remain intersectional in my support, but my focus is now disability rights. Since this change, I have heard of many instances of disabled people who experienced ableism from the AR community. While this was certainly not news to me, as I too have experienced this, I want to address the following question from the disabled vegan perspective: is veganism ableist?
Every time I delve deeper into the disabled twitter-sphere, without fail I come across tweets from the disability community talking about how ableist vegans are. Vegans calling a disabled person a liar when they state that they can not be vegan due to their disability. Vegans telling disabled folk that if they just ate a healthy whole food vegan diet, they would be “cured”. As if said vegans were actual doctors that specialized in that specific disability, and thus were properly educated regarding any possible treatment options (including medications). As if one size fits all and the vegan diet was a solution for every medical situation. As if by default, disability made a person “broken” and in need of fixing / being cured.
[caption: Disability is just another way for a mind and/or body to be. We are not broken. image description: Photo of myself in my motorized wheelchair, Betty. I am outdoors on a sunny day at the piers in New York City. I am dressed colorfully with colorful striped socks, black combat boots and capris and a red t-shirt that reads “The Revolution Is Wheelchair Accessible.” ]
And as a disabled vegan, I often find myself between these two worlds. I cringe and facepalm when I read these tweets, as I try to do damage control: ‘Hey. I’m a disabled vegan and I just wanted to say that I am really sorry you experienced ableism from the vegan community. That is not cool’, in hopes of creating some sense of healing.
So, is ableism a problem within the vegan community? Absolutely. There are intersectional animal rights activists who have solidarity and who get it, but there are also activists who identify as intersectional, but miss the mark on ableism. There are also single issue animal rights activists who don’t even know the word ableism or who do, but don’t care because (to them) the only cause that matters is animal rights, which is just as problematic as it sounds.
Anyone who is involved in activism knows that single issue and faux intersectional activism, by default is indisputably problematic. However, it is only fair to note that Ableism is certainly not just an “animal rights thing”, since Ableism occurs in any cause where the activism is based on an able bodied model and/or the cause fails to acknowledge the existence of disability.
So, is veganism ableist? This is why I say no. Veganism at it’s root is a philosophy, an idea that the animals don’t exist for us. Just as a disabled person, I don’t exist to be someone’s inspiration nor target of pity, animals do not exist to be our meals and clothing. They have their own lives and exist for themselves. This may not be the mainstream way of thinking, but as with all forms of oppression, just because someone decided that a particular demographic is inferior, doesn’t make it true nor does it justify the oppression.
[image description: photo of Esther, The Wonder Pig who is napping with a highly content grin on her face.]
It’s complicated because often vegans will come across people who say “Oh, I could never go vegan. I love cheese (bacon etc.) too much and I could never give that up.” This of course, is not a factual statement, as it is not oxygen in which their life depends on. So technically they could give it up. They just choose not to, which isdifferent from the disabled person who due to their disability / chronic illness, may not have the choice. There are some vegans who fail to make note of the difference, who are unaware that the difference even exists. It’s as if they hear both answers and their bullshit meter immediately goes off, not realizing that the latter is actually valid.
Some vegans might argue: but what if the disabled person in question, is just using their disability as an excuse to not go vegan? This is incredibly harmful and triggering and so as a disabled vegan, I say: believe them every single damn time. I would rather let that one hypothetical person, that 1 out of 10,000 (assuming they even exist) “off the hook”, then give the remaining 9,999 people yet more crap to deal with. Disabled people often experience social and systemic ableism on a daily basis. The last thing the community needs is further discrimination.
It’s also complicated because there is this idea in the animal rights community, that there is no such thing as a half or partial vegan. You either do it 100% hardcore or you can not claim the label. And if you can’t call yourself vegan, then you are deemed as an unethical and a lousy human being. This in itself is ableist because if a person is legitimately not able to go the 100%, then they shouldn’t be shamed for that.
[image description : a model is hugging a variety of vegetables and holding them close to her chest. she is grinning and looking to the right ]
It’s also complicated because in truth, no one is 100% vegan. When I go to the market to get vegan food, I go to a market that has a whole section dedicated to meat, eggs and dairy. Therefore, I am essentially, though indirectly, financially supporting a business that profits from the animal agriculture industry. When I use a grocery delivery service (as due to my disability, I can not always make it to the store), they bag the groceries in plastic bags which (and I kid you not) contain additives that are derived from animals. My point being, that the system in it’s current state, makes it impossible to do zero harm and thus there is no such thing as the perfect vegan.
Veganism is thus about doing the least harm and the most good. And so if one can not go fully vegan due to their health and/or disability, it becomes a matter of doing what they can. Consider eating less meat. Not an option? Consider drinking a non-dairy “milk” (soy, rice, almond, oats, coconut etc.) instead of buying dairy milk. Or if changing ones diet is not an option, then consider purchasing products for your home and body that are not tested on animals, if not totally vegan. One can choose to buy clothing made from synthetic material instead of animal skins such as leather, fur and suede. If you already own a leather coat, as an example, and can not afford to buy a new synthetic one, then wear the coat but do less harm in otherways. My point being, it’s about doing what you can. It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t “qualify” you to accurately identify as vegan. It’s better to do some good and less harm than nothing at all.
[image description: photo is of the earth, a view from space.]
And do keep in mind that this goes beyond the animals. There are mainstream scientific studies that show that the animal agriculture industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change. This is big, considering since climate change is an issue that directly impacts us all, but particularly people who are poor and/or the disabled population. After all, who is often left stranded during and after a major storm (such as a hurricane)?
Or even just the impact of climate change on every day weather. Climate change is being linked to the increase in heat advisories which prevent people (like myself) who are medically sensitive to the heat, from leaving their home. I am vegan for many reasons, but one of them being is that I do not do well with being stuck in my apartment for a week. When I do my best to not support the animal agriculture industry, I lessen climate change, and thus I lessen the physical isolation that I experience, which impacts my well being.
That being said, the intention of this article, is not trying to tell people what to do nor demand change. I just wanted to address the question of “is veganism ableist?” as a disabled vegan and present you with the information from that perspective. Because in the end, it is never … ever okay when a vegan (or anyone) is ableist (or any other form of discrimination), but that doesn’t make veganism (or a variation of), a bad idea.
