Asperger's / Autism Toolbox
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Dangerous People
A Post by Monkey Plierson August 16, 2013
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Asperger's / Autism ToolboxH EO M Dangerous PeopleA Post by Monkey Plierson August 16, 2013 View Blog Listings |
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I remember when, because of AIDS, homophobes moved from just calling gays corrupters and abusers of children, destroyers of families, and converters of innocent and naive young adults into depraved monsters to crying that gay men, in particular, were the carriers of death who would bring down all of humanity if not quarantined and put to death themselves. I remember when the first of our current war's veterans began to return home, and the same fear some had once held towards Vietnam vets - that any one of them could snap at a moment's notice and fly into violent, uncontrollable rage, raping and slaughtering even those they loved - began to surface. I remember the more recent panic over Asperger's and whether or not the public should fear mass premeditated murder at the hands of autistics who weren't clearly identifiable enough by their co-morbid conditions on sight to provoke ignorant people's pity. But who should be concerned about cases in which parents and other caregivers end the lives of poor children in pain? They're just putting a stop to everyone's suffering, that of the children and their carers alike, Right? They can't help themselves in the end, after all. Really, they've done the sane, understandable, justifiable thing. Pitying someone helpless makes people feel safe - safe enough to not have to listen to the concerns of the object of their pity, not to have to consider that person's humanity, not to have to value that individual's life. When it comes to the disenfranchised, it's not murderous people that scare everyone. It's autonomous people. It's people who can assert themselves. It's those who can petition for redress of their grievances. And, apparently, it's those who are "too needy", as well. Majority members who kill become heroes, whether they knock off the vocally dissatisfied or put an end to those without the means to make themselves heard. It's all the same. Society is safer when it's rid of these burdens, whether they loudly make clear demands or are demanding of great care. Those who work to be good allies in a diverse world prove every day that folks can be better than this. "Gay panic" and "The Twinkie Defense" were bogus arguments for killing gays, as was the fear that men with HIV (positive women being invisible, of course) would somehow cause worldwide human extinction. Nobody should get their view of returning war veterans from a handful of news reports and from films that sensationalize their struggles for the sake of action and audience thrills. There's no excuse for killing a disabled child, and there's no excuse for excusing it. When you deny someone else's humanity, you throw away your own. Can we all get this through our heads at last? Why does this thing keep needing to be repeated?
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