Alice,
Yes, eventually everyone got a car and a TV, even my father did, and he was
a factory worker. But he got the car in 1948 and the TV in 1950 and he was
able to do so because he lived in New York City at a time when there were
protections for working people. We lived in a rent controlled apartment. He
was a union member. The apartment had one bedroom. We never had enough money
for a two bedroom apartment. In 1950, my mother got a part-time sales job at
Bloomingdale's to help pay the bills. But we were able to live on his salary
basically. Factory jobs existed. All he had to do was take a 40 minute ride
on the subway to get to work. None of those things are available to the
people who live in the section of Queens now, where we then lived. And when
I was ready for college, there was an excellent 4 year tuition free college
available for me to attend, a busride away. The bus fare was 10 or 15 cents
back then. When I attended high school, the subway and bus rides were free
to public school students. I noted a news story recently that students in
the city are now demonstrating, trying to get free transportation to school
so obviously they haven't had it for years. And when we finally did get that
TV, we didn't have to pay a monthly fee to watch it.
Miriam
________________________________
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alice Dampman
Humel
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2015 2:45 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uber fined in cal partially for violating ada
Miriam,
I'd add one more level of horrifying to all that you outline.it's not so
much that the Skypeing doctors, the facilitators sitting in the room with
the hundred kids glued to the computer screens, the so-called educators who
think this is such a great idea, and so on, expect everyone to have access
to and be able to use the technology, they are indifferent to their patient,
indifferent to their students, they really don't care one way or the other.
If they care about anything, it's their bottom line, business as usual.
And, yes, that applies to Uber and the other companies trying something
different. I might hope these new ideas bring about some change, but I'm not
naive enough to think they care anymore than do other big corporations and
businesses.
The level of indifference in our society has become so high that when you do
run into someone who really seems to give a rat's ass about you, their job,
the possibility of helping somebody out, it practically makes you cry.
I will, however, add that eventually, all this new technology will be as
commonplace as that pay phone that used to be on every corner. When cars,
phones, TV, first appeared, hardly anyone had one. Now it seems that
everyone must have a car, a phone, a TV, a radio, everyone will eventually
have to have a computer and a smart phone. The kids, the millennials, they
talk about computers and apps the way we used to talk about our three-ring
binders and pencils.
And, once again, the poor, the working class, the marginalized, the
forgotten, will be left out in the cold. Look at that discussion that has
dragged on and on on the BARD list about mailing cartridges to blind patrons
of the library who can't or don't want to download books. It's really been
horrifying to read how many people on that list have absolutely no
understanding for people who still want their books sent to them on the
cartridges. Again, the indifference. They are basically saying, I have what
I want, and I don't care if you get what you need or not. And worse,
although it doesn't hurt them one little bit, they want to take that option
away from those who prefer it or need it.
Alice
On Jul 18, 2015, at 3:58 PM, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Marsha,
What has happened is that now, in order to participate in most
aspects of
our society, people need computers with internet access and smart
phones.
Although, originally, the technology for all of this came out of
government
research, actually military research, it is now the province of
private
enterprise. As our society sheds various aspects of our social
welfare state
and the belief that it is the government's responsibility to ensure
that
everyone's needs are taken into account, an assumption is made that
everyone
can, or ought to be able to, own and use all of the new available
technical
devices. Pay phones are a thing of the past. If you're away from
home and
have to make a call, you can't just drop a quarter into a slot and
make the
call. You must own a cell phone and pay a monthly fee. In Manhattan,
one can
still stand on a street corner and hail a cab. But perhaps, some
day, that
won't be a possibility. You will only be able to summon a ride
through a
smart phone app. There's a lot of enthusiastic talk these days of
docdtors
using apps to check patients' chronic conditions and skype
consultations and
examinations. This is a whole new level of impersonality and a way
to lower
the expense and time of service providers while placing more
financial
responsibility on the consumer or patient and it assumes a level of
independence, competence, and health that is not available to all
members of
our society. It is the same new business model which says that you
can put
100 children in front of computer screens and provide education
through
computer programs and a facilitator. It is precisely the oppisit of
the
kind of world that Chris Hedges would like to see and that the
Occupy
movement was working for.
Miriame
________________________________
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Martian.Lady
Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2015 2:56 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: uber fined in cal partially for
violating ada
HI
The ability to use this service depends on having a smart phone.
This
means many people can't use the service.
Marsha