Dear St.John,
In my mind there is an inherent contradiction in what you argue here. On the one hand you imply that actions to get the job done can take
place in a vacuum devoid of P/politics or personal ideologies in fact they rather get in the way, on the other you contextualise that by
stating the political framework which impacts on how you take the actions you do i.e. a philanthropic approach in which it is the duty of
the more fortunate to help the less fortunate.
With reference to the subject header the whole reason this debate began was because there are different ways and approaches to getting the
job done, we make choices about which we believe to be the best. There can be no doubt that these choices are influenced by many factors not
least P/politics, ideologies and the values we hold personally and are dominant in our society. To my mind being explicit about these and
understanding them more fully is part of getting the job done not an idle way to pass the time spent in the office, as it impacts on the
choice of actions that we undertake. Further I would suggest that developing a political awareness to inform the actions we take is not
something beholden only to those people sitting in offices, there are plenty of examples of 'underprivileged' groups of people coming
together to do just that.
Best wishes and have a good weekend,
Madeleine
-----Original Message-----
From: Skeates,St.John DEAL Awards Tm
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 26 July 2002 11:59
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: generalist/specialist assessors
No but we can establish some priorities. We are fortunate in that we have
the luxury of being able to debate these issues from our comfortable
offices, safely cosseted from the harsh realities of the real world.
Meanwhile the disabled, the underprivileged and the disenfranchised
strive for a quality of life that we all take for granted in a society
that is not known for it's sympathy towards those that fall outside what
is generally accepted as "normal".
I doubt that there is a person on here that has not at some point been
the victim of discrimination, injustice or bigotry. But while redefining,
rephrasing or even respelling the language that we use may make an
interesting coffee time debate and allow those "in the know" to feel smug
in their righteousness, it is not going to get the support to those who
need it.
Take a look at the subject line of this email. Does anyone actually
recall the original debate concerning the who should conduct assessments,
an issue that has very significant implications when it comes to
providing the best support possible? Or do we all have our heads so far
up our own backsides over the fact that an individual dared to use the
word "disabled" on a mail list titled Dis-forum that the original debate
is no longer relevant?
So to hell with politics and ideologies - two words which, I suspect,
humanity would be much better off without!
St.John Skeates
Awards Section
Bedfordshire County Council
Direct Line 01234 316300
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