A lot of congenitally blind people were over protected by their parents and
they lived in a sheltered world. A large number attended state schools for the
blind where they were trained to passively accept the rules and accommodate to
the institution. That attitude became part of their personalities. If you are
totally blind from birth, you are dependent on others to define reality for
you. How much you think and act independently, depends partly on your biology,
but a great deal on the attitudes of the adults who raise you. One of the most
important goals of the blind people I've known, was to be accepted by the
sighted world, to fit in. The goal of all the advocacy organizations is,
theoretically, to educate the sighted world so that blind people will be
integrated into sighted society. The kind of experience that blind people had
as children and adolescents, trains people to be obedient. It works against
creative thinking and rebellion. If I think about all the books I've read by
blind people, they could all be summarized by, "This is the story of how I
learned to be a capable, active, successful blind person who has been accepted
by sighted people".
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Frank Ventura
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 2:26 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Exasperation
Miriam, being conservative means not caring about anyone other than yourself.
In the '90s we called it being an objectivist. I think many folks who were born
blind failed "sandbox", if you know what I mean.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 12:52 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Exasperation
Carl,
It amazes me, how you so easily accept and enjoy participating on blindness
lists. I think that blind people, at least a majority of those whom I've known
throughout my life, are the most politically conservative sectors of our
population, even those who live in the most urban, politically liberal parts of
our country. It's rather ironic, when you think that they've mostly attended
state schools for the blind, received public services for the blind, and when
employed, have usually worked for governmental entities. And many of them have
been unemployed and received SSI or SSDI for most of their lives. Yet, they
believe that they are somehow, different from every other vulnerable population
in our country. They are sure that no matter what, they'll be cared for and
that they deserve this special status.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 11:26 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Exasperation
Now there's a place where you and I differ. These encounters you've mentioned
have "exasperated" you. I have also had many such encounters over my lifetime,
but I get a chuckle out of them. In fact, I have often thought of writing them
down in a "Humorous Book entitled, "Quaint American Humor".
It is my experience that when I'm talking with the sorts of folks you
described, I mentally decide that I am speaking to God. The effect is the
same. When I was attempting to become a true Believer, I found that God was
always too busy to really listen to me. Wise folks would tell me, "God works
in mysterious ways". I came to believe that God was taking a long, very long
coffee break. Yesterday I posted a question asking what the organizations of
the blind were doing about the looming demise of our proud Post Office. One
answer was, "They'll come out okay. They always do". Yes, initially I fume
and fuss, but at some point I begin to chuckle at the thought of this blind guy
standing in front of a mail box with spiderwebs hanging on it, waiting for his
Talking Book to be delivered.
Another person wrote me, "UPS and Fed X will deliver our books and stuff".
I answered that those private carriers would charge far more for the service, a
service which would no longer exist since it was between the NLS and the Post
Office, and besides, those private carriers did not deliver to the outlying
rural areas of America." She replied, "You'll always say anything just to
trash President Trump". Huh? I don't recall bringing up the name of the
Pandemic Grinch.
Lately my old buddy Mostafa...or Mustafa, has been writing me off-list. At
least I hope our "conversations" are not cluttering up anyone elses email.
Mustafa is a prime example of what it is like to attempt to persuade a block of
granite that it can think by itself.
Anyway, since we're all going to die, we might as well go out laughing.
Cordially,
Carl Jarvis...chuckle chuckle chuckle
On 4/22/20, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just dropping by to blow off some steam because I am feeling
exasperated again. I seem to feel exasperated a lot and this story explains
why.
Here is a part of a conversation I had yesterday with a relative. She
says, "I think China sent that coreena virus to us on purpose." In
case you think I am misspelling the word corona I am only spelling it
the way she pronounced it. I say, "Why do you think that?" She says,
"I heard that it came from the communist part of China." Feeling my
exasperation rising again, I say, "Which part of China is that?"n She
says, "I heard that it came from Woohoo. That must be the communist
part of China." I say, "Why do you think they sent it on purpose?" She
says, "Because they're communists." I say, "Why would communists want
to do that?" She says, "Because communists want everyone to die." I
say, "Why do you think that?" She sighs and says, "Do you even know what a
communist is?"
At this point I am tempted to say that, yes, I know what a communist
is, but you don't have a clue what it is. Encountering ignorance does
not bother me. It always offers an opportunity to teach something.
What bothers me is, for one thing, the assumption that on a topic that
has been one of my special interests since I was a teenager and have
devoted much time studying on my own and have participated in with a
lot of time invested with other people who shared my perspective on
the subject, that I am the one who does not know what he is talking
about. And furthermore, I have explained what communism is to her time
and time again and it appears that everything I have ever said about
it just went in one ear and out the other. Usually when I explain it
as soon as I finish talking she starts telling me about some recipe
that she tried or something similar. That should be a clue that I was
not being listened to. Her statements this time, though, showed
ignorance on a number of levels and rather than just repeat things I
have told her so many times before I decided to inform her of some
other things that I have not spent so much time on. I tried to explain
something about the geography of China and the political situation
there. I also explained that it did not make much sense that they
would have unleashed the virus on purpose when they were the ones who
were first effected and strongly effected at that. When I paused she
started telling me about the personal life of someone she knows, but
whom I have never met and am uninterested. That is, she made it clear
to me that I may as well have been talking to passing clouds. Do you see why
I spend so much time feeling exasperated?
As I was typing this I was reminded of another incident that happened
way back when I was in college that was similarly exasperating. Bear
in mind that when this happened I was majoring in biology, but I
really don't think anyone needs to have studied biology to understand
what I was trying to say. I was working in the cataloguing department
of the school library in the work-study program. There were some
secretaries there who saw some birds hopping around on the lawn. It
was a cold winter day too. As they were looking out the window one of
them started cooing about how they were going to have babies. I looked
too and saw what they were referring to. The other secretaries agreed
with the assessment that the birds were pregnant. I explained to them
that they were seeing the effect of the low temperature. The birds
were fluffing up their feathers to trap air and to give themselves some
insulation.
That is, they were trying to keep warm. To this day I don't know why I
didn't mention anything about birds laying eggs, but it just didn't
occur to me at the time. Nevertheless, a bird's pregnancy takes place
outside of the bird's body and they do not show signs of an impending
hatching. What do I get in reply to my explanation? I am told,"We're
women so we know about things like that." Again, the assumption was
that I was the one who did not know what he was talking about. I
calmly said, "Did you know that I am a biology major?" The reply was,
"That's some kind of science, isn't it? Doesn't it have something to
do with flowers?" Again, just some steam release about having to go
through life feeling exasperated with people. --
___
Thomas Paine
“One good schoolmaster is of more use than a hundred priests.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
