"Let me take a big deep breath here as I calmly say this: I am sick of being nice about this shit, and I’m horrified that those fighting in the social justice realm are constantly ignoring what disabled people are telling them about their experiences...
Those of us with disabilities who are on medication regularly depend on “Big Pharma” to stay alive. The reason I wish people would just stop throwing the phrase around is that they are only looking into a fraction of what’s wrong with the medical system when they talk about it. And even if they’re not about to spout off some unsolicited advice or some shame to any disabled person happening upon them, they are in a minority of those who don’t use the phrase to shame people for doing what it takes to survive...
I have been at this so long and have heard it’s all in my head so many times from friends, strangers, doctors, and loved ones that, despite having a ridiculously long list of diagnosis and more specialists than I care to admit to, I still sometimes genuinely worry that I’m a hypochondriac. Or worse, maybe I’m suffering from what used to be called Munchhausen’s… Maybe I just want attention. The worst part of this phenomena? I’m not the only chronically ill person who struggles with this."http://camillalaurentine.com/2015/04/22/big-pharma-privilege-or-why-i-wish-allies-would-stop-using-this-phrase/
I think this is a little bit the same moral-of-naturalness that lead to distrust in GMOs. But more than that, I think it's a weird American idea of individualism that says that we should all be prepared, at any moment, to make a solo trip through a prairie state like John Wayne. We should be able to provide for all our needs by ourselves, reliant on no one.
I want to live in a world where we expect to trust, rely on, and nourish each other to become more than waht we are alone. Where we respect and value needs, instead of seeing a need that we don't share as a *word florrid, unecessary, gold-digger* want.
No comments:
Post a Comment