To all
I have to disagree. It is inexcusable that anyone should experience any
sort of abuse. It's plain wrong. I stopped participating in the disability
movement and stopped working in the discipline of disability studies as much
because of abuse from disabled people themselves. I also have less faith in
the ability to make omnne group to the sense of another's argument. Or that;
The object is not to defeat an adversary in open combat, but to ultimatly
win over ones adversary by convincing them to adopt the ideas one is
fighting for so they are no longer and adversary.
Is an achieveable goal. It should be, but this is not just about reasoned
debate, for the players involved have an interest not just in the outcome of
the debate for the debate's sake, but aut political interests, say for
instance how much power the organization they belong will have should they
have to concede a point.
Michael
>From: Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Conference next week
>Date: Sun, 1 Sep 2002 00:46:27 +0100
>
>Hi Col
>
>I wish to state a few things.
>
>Firstly it was not at all easy for me as an unknown to be elected onto the
>Council of the NAS considering the sort of people I was standing amongst
>and
>it was a considerable surprise to me when I was elected at all,
>particularly
>as I had openly stated that I intended to bring a certain bluntness to them
>and to adopt an alexandrian solution of cutting the gordian knot.
>Considering the woefully low number of people on the autistic spectrum who
>are actually members there is no way I would have been elected on there
>support alone and being as I am currently only the third autistic person to
>get this far I think that is not bad going so far. Whatever is done from
>the
>outside, the NAS is not going to go away and there is no easy way to build
>anything as big and as powerful from the ground up unless there is a
>millionaire backer out there, of whom I would be instantly suspicios if
>there were anyway. That is why I am going to continue challenging from
>within for as long as I still can and to play a long game.
>
>The object is not to defeat an adversary in open combat, but to ultimatly
>win over ones adversary by convincing them to adopt the ideas one is
>fighting for so they are no longer and adversary. I could give lots of
>analogies but would make this an ever longer post than it is likely to be
>at
>the moment.
>
>In order to do this one has to be prepared to suffer some degree of abuse,
>and I have had a lot of "training" in suffering abuse I can assure you.
>Those who struggled in the human rights movement like Ghandi and Dr Martin
>Luther King certainly knew how to take abuse. Nothing would be served by my
>resigning or ceasing to make my appearance at conferences like the one I am
>attending.
>
>It is incorrect to say that all Charities are colluding with the
>government,
>as politics is not a simple us and them, government versus proles set up
>and
>the government are only one particular force in a cultural hegemony. BCODP
>is a charity after all and I do not wholly endorse the reticence of such
>organisations to fully take on the challenges that neuro diversity makes to
>the social model when the model ossifies into a paradigm rather than grows
>to take account of some of its flaws. In there own way those who hold onto
>the ideas of twenty years ago are sociologically littel different from the
>american society of pysciatrists in there rigidity. For a visitor from Mars
>anyway.
>
>I get a little tired after thirty years of watching people on street
>corners
>selling newspapers full of slogans believing that this is somehow going to
>cause the multinationals to lose any sleep. I was not all that enamoured of
>them thirty years ago to be honest ultimatley abandoning an erly faith in
>the "littel red book" to develop a more anarchist perspective, I do not
>believe in human or temporal absolutes. I am not an ideological anarchist
>so
>much as a person who was born with a disposition that finds it hard to deal
>with authority of any kind.
>
>I am autonomous because above all I am autonomous in my own thought and
>will
>not be dicatated to by any ism unless I have come to see its validity
>through my own perspective, not because I am told it is right. I am thus
>sceptical of uncritically accepting anyone elses perspective and that
>includes people like Foucault, and Derrida.
>
>If I were to go to that conference and take off my jacket to reveal a T
>shirt that said Fuck all you neuro-typicals or if I were to hurl abuse in
>every fdirection if I were ejected because of it I would not last very
>long,
>I have to have a well thought out agenda and to be able to make evaluations
>as to what might be more effective and to make appropriate alliances where
>possible. Shouting down a speaker for example would be an absolute last
>resort and one guaranteed to exclude me from any possible discourse for
>ever.
>
>I am worried Colin that you have made too many enemies too erly by
>rejecting
>gruops that you find hard to work with. We all have to guard against being
>carried away by our own enthusiasm, and at them moment I may be putting my
>head in the Lions mouth, but that is where I feel I ought to be right now
>it
>is right for me. We each of us have to do what we are best at. Then if I
>have failed, you can put me up against the wall and have me shot if there
>is
>anything left of me to put up against a wall.
>
>Anyway Colin lets here more of this alternative discourse on this list, it
>needs it badly in my opinion
>
>Larry
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