When Else?

[Editorial]

I am going to ask one single question: When else did we see a government lock up the disabled?

People are worried about the handwriting on the wall. What they are hearing makes many people very, very nervous. Back in the 50s and 60s, people were warehoused in “institutions,” and there still are some “institutions,” but I believe they are now only for those “who need the care.”

But that is the $64,000 question… who decides who needs to be warehoused?

They grew up with disability rights. Now, they're fighting to keep them

August 20, 20265:00 AM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Jonaki Mehta

Cody and Kaleigh Brendle grew up near the Jersey Shore, going out on their grandfather's boat on weekends, learning to swim and riding bikes together.

"I was the annoying little sister — like, 'Wait for me, wait for me!'" said Kaleigh. She remembered standing by in awe at summer camp as her fearless older brother scaled rock-climbing walls and went down waterslides. "I was like, 'Wow, he's doing all this — maybe I can try.'"

The siblings said they've always relied on each other for support navigating life as two blind kids, now adults. Cody, 27, lives at home with his parents, and Kaleigh, 23, is starting law school across the country.

We have learned that it is much better for the person to be able to live at home… however it is much more expensive. But it depends upon the level of assistance. Do they need only someone to clean and cook for them? Or do they need 24-hour care?

In practice, the integration mandate requires that states provide people with disabilities the services they need to thrive in their homes or communities — in other words, in the most integrated setting possible. For someone with intellectual or developmental disabilities, that could mean a personal care worker helping them to get dressed or eat, or a case manager helping them find a job or housing, among other services.

But you know what? It is cheaper to warehouse them… stick them all in a warehouse. Cheaper than humane care. But do you know who will not get warehoused? The billionaires! The ones who can afford it. So not only do we have a “K” economy, we have a “K” healthcare system.

NPR’s All Things Considered goes on to say:

Now, a lawsuit brought by several Republican-led states, Texas v. Kennedy, is working its way through the courts. The plaintiffs argue that the federal government cannot require states to provide disability services in the community rather than in institutions. Then, in June, the Department of Justice (DOJ), which enforces the integration mandate, issued a legal opinion taking a similar position — essentially aligning itself with the plaintiffs in the case. "Congress has not imposed an integration mandate on states," the memo reads. It goes on to say the Olmstead decision "held only that a state cannot institutionalize such patients without justification. … What counts as adequate justification remains an open question." In July, the DOJ also clarified that it would no longer enforce Olmstead in the same way it had in the past.

See, we get down to who decides? Who decides, the conservatives or the liberals?

I watched the movie Packed in a Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson, where a lesbian was committed to an insane asylum in 1924, just because of her sexual orientation. Will trans people be locked away in an insane asylum… out of sight, out of mind?

It all boils down to ideology: liberals = us, conservatives = me. Liberals care about others. We care about people. We care about healthcare. We care about the environment. We care about future generations.

We don’t put profits before the lives of people. We don’t put profits ahead of the environment. We don’t put our profits ahead of our future generations.

Here is an aside: Do you know why wine is only around 18 to 20 percent alcohol?

Well, it turns out all those greedy yeasts see all that sugar and go bananas, starting to gobble up all that sugar! Oh, they can’t get enough. They poison themselves to death. Their waste is alcohol. They actually shit themselves to death.

The Republicans see humane care for the disabled as a drain upon their wealth! Lock them behind walls, and no one can see them. Then you can give the contracts to warehouse and feed them to your billionaire friends.

They have said that the homeless should be housed. They have said that trans people should be housed.

I go back to my first question: When else did we see a government lock up the disabled? Who got paid to build the concentration camps?

One last thought. From the archaeological record of prehistoric humans caring for injured and disabled members of their groups through the historical record, we see evidence of something that predates governments, political parties, and economic systems: people taking care of people.

Are we better than them?

[/Editorial]