[Blindtlk] Inferiority complex withdisabilityvsnondisabledsociety

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Thu Jun 3 03:47:39 UTC 2010 

Peter:

While you are correct and to the extent that blindness can cause one to be 
subject to discriminatory treatment resulting in lower-paying jobs, you err 
in believing that you alone as a blind person are subject to such income 
limitations. There are plenty of sighted folks who lack skills who also 
can't get lucrative jobs and who are subject to the vagaries of trying to 
get jobs in places where, even if said sighted persons have skills, they're 
not the ones needed in that area. In other words, blindness doesn't 
necessarily make you a victim. Victimhood is a matter of attitude as much as 
anything else.

I concur with what Steve, Gary, Dave and all others who have commented, have 
told you. But here's a take you may not like but the question is a fair one 
and you must answer it honestly for yourself before you proceed: if you feel 
that blindness causes you to be at a gross disadvantage, why should anyone 
else think otherwise? Put another way, if *you* don't think you can cut it 
in competition with the sighted (and, after all, the sighted are the 
majority), why should any sighted person think you competent? A large part 
of inferiority is a matter of one's own attitudes. If you wear a KICK ME 
sign, sooner or later, someone will oblige you.

So the first thing you'll have to do is to stop weeping in your beer, drain 
the glass, decide that by golly, you're going to function and to show the 
world, then sit down, assessing your strengths and weaknesses as a 
*person* -- not a *blind person* -- and then go after the skills 
(blindness-related and otherwise) you'll need to grab the world by the 
posterior and succeed.

Will this be easy? No. But since when were you ever guaranteed that the 
world would be fair? What you are guaranteed is a chance to compete as you 
now are or plan to be after acquiring the skills you need. You may succeed 
or fail but that's the situation everyone else finds himself/herself in 
also. Yes, blindness can be a damned nuisance and a hindrance in some 
situations. But so can being too short, too tall, to fat or too thin, too 
dumb or, believe it or not, too smart (ever hear of the personnel phrase 
"over-qualified"?). Blindness is just one of the characteristics with which 
you must deal. What makes it a pain is that it's one the majority of the 
world doesn't have to deal with. If you doubt this, come to the NFB 
convention in Dallas and watch some of the confused sighted folks when 
confronted with three thousand blind people! (grin)

Anyway, buck up, man! Grab the steer of life by the horns and lasoo it! 
WE're all hear to help and cheer you on, assuming you're really interested 
in making a go of the world.

This may seem tough-minded. Certainly, it's good to acknowledge one's 
feelings. But to my way of thinking, to wallow in pity or despair for more 
than thirty seconds is counterproductive; it gets to be habit-forming!

Go get 'm!

Mike Freeman, Member
Board of Directors
National Federation of the Blind

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Wolfe" <sunspot005 at gmail.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Inferiority complex 
withdisabilityvsnondisabledsociety


> Steve:
>
>
>   Do you know how high the cost of living is in bigger cities? If
> your on a social security check and barely making it in the 2nd lowest
> cost of living state with a fiance wanting to be near her family with
> a brother in a medical center it's not that easy. Typical american
> response about complicated problems in my view and estimation.
>
> On 6/2/10, Steve P. Deeley <stevep.deeley at insightbb.com> wrote:
>> You need to take responsibility and move to areas where there is adequate
>> public transportation!
>> Steve
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter Wolfe" <sunspot005 at gmail.com>
>> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 6:00 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Inferiority complex with
>> disabilityvsnondisabledsociety
>>
>>
>>> If personal responsability was a mantra strong enough how come it is
>>> that blind people in particilar are not gainfully employed? Some areas
>>> don't facilitate transportation and I have been around virtually all
>>> types of blind people. There is a good number that can't get hired and
>>> private companies in particilar go against it  like Goergia Pacific or
>>> have halfway commitments like car plants. Then, government layoffs as
>>> well.
>>>    Another thing is that many legallly blind people post about an
>>> almost completely blind prospective. Perhaps some of this can be done.
>>> However, I've ran across plenty of blind people in my opinion that
>>> have people pick up after them. I mean that it's not as independent
>>> cause they don't want to be or people pity them too much. There are
>>> limitations even with the best accessability and acknowledging them is
>>> a good realistic approach. Then, my interests and dislikes and I've
>>> done that. I've researched these areas and what it boils down to is
>>> insecurity with being blind.
>>>    About my local NFB branch. Since Mike Jones has been away for a
>>> unknown set time to Hawaii to the last time I've heard that Auburn's
>>> NFB is nothing? It's mainly in bigger cities. How do you meet blind
>>> people then? The Program for Students with Disabilities isn't a social
>>> networking site unfortunately. It is okay via e-mail and I have ran
>>> into three blind people here just one has left and that is about it.
>>>    What would you do about choosing to change your major into
>>> something with more creativity or teaching that you won't be
>>> complained about doing cause they have already paid so much? Initially
>>> when I started college I wanted to be a lawyer but I realize they is a
>>> element of corruption and huge sin risks by word scrambling to suit
>>> your own agenda that I don't like at all. So, the psychology field,
>>> history and political science all weren't what I wanted. There is this
>>> initative to get math and science students at Auburn to do that stuff.
>>>    I have to take calculus 1 and or calculus 2 but I don't know
>>> neimith code. How logn do you think it could take someone with
>>> virtually no experience to learn the basics for that course? I might
>>> just get a tutor though and do it that way. If there is computer
>>> scientists on the list just e-mail me. I don't beleieve that blind
>>> people have to do all of this calculus information like some have
>>> fabricated though. Arrogance is hard to deal with supposedly
>>> successful blind people. I owuld like to own my own company!
>>> note: thanks to all of you
>>>
>>> On 6/2/10, Hyde, David W. (ESC) <david.hyde at wcbvi.k12.wi.us> wrote:
>>>> Peter, I started to reply several times. Gary and Steve both make good
>>>> points. They said the things I wanted to say. Let me add that I know 
>>>> that
>>>>
>>>> I
>>>> wouldn't have had the type of encouragement I have had were it not for
>>>> being
>>>> blind. I have had the boone of meeting more successful people than 
>>>> most,
>>>> and
>>>> finding that they are willing to share their secrets (mostly hard work
>>>> and
>>>> techniques that make sense once you learn them) with me. They then
>>>> expected
>>>> me to pass them on to others. I have learned to try my best.
>>>>
>>>> You sound like a fellow who has a number of things going on at the same
>>>> time. Please don't try to solve them all at once. If you can prioritize
>>>> your
>>>> needs (it's hard, but it is the only way to get them all down) and deal
>>>> with
>>>> them one at a time, you can see some progress. I think the hardest 
>>>> thing
>>>> for
>>>> me to learn, and to explain is that it is acceptable to fail. It 
>>>> doesn't
>>>> mean that you are less of a person. Everyone fails at something. I keep
>>>> trying new things, and I do some of them well, and some of them badly.
>>>> It's
>>>> interesting to see which I learn the most from.
>>>>
>>>> Find some blind people who you like in your area. Find some who will
>>>> teach
>>>> you the things that they do. None of us would have planed to be blind,
>>>> had
>>>> we a choice. Since we didn't, some of us are happy, successful, and
>>>> satisfied with life anyway. As I write, I remember a book I recently 
>>>> read
>>>>
>>>> by
>>>> a fellow named Mike May. Mike now runs Sendero Group, doing GPS 
>>>> systems.
>>>> He's a nice guy, and I met him long before he was successful. The book 
>>>> is
>>>> called Crashing Through. I found it interesting in that Michael is a 
>>>> guy
>>>> who
>>>> just never learned to fail. He failed until he found ways to succeed.
>>>>
>>>> Don't know if this helps or not. Please let us know how you're doing.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>>>> On
>>>> Behalf Of Dewey Bradley
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 1:40 PM
>>>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Inferiority complex with
>>>> disabilityvsnondisabledsociety
>>>>
>>>> Garry makes some very good points indeed.
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at icrc.IN.gov>
>>>> To: "'Gary Wunder'" <gwunder at earthlink.net>; "'Blind Talk Mailing 
>>>> List'"
>>>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 12:04 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Inferiority complex with
>>>> disabilityvsnondisabledsociety
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Peter,
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary makes some very good points here as well. It would simply be
>>>>> untrue for me to tell you that there are no advantages to being
>>>>> sighted, or disadvantages to being blind. Just as there are advantages
>>>>> to having money, v. not  having as much. If Bill Gates decides that he
>>>>> wants to order a pizza on a Friday night for dinner, he doesn't have
>>>>> to stop and think about whether or not he can afford it the way that I
>>>>> do.
>>>>>
>>>>> The point is though, that there are ways around most of these things.
>>>>> We find those ways, most of them are not insurmountable,  and we lead
>>>>> productive and full lives.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Diane Graves
>>>>> Civil Rights Specialist
>>>>> Indiana Civil Rights Commission
>>>>> Alternative Dispute Resolutions Unit
>>>>> 317-232-2647
>>>>>
>>>>> "It is service that measures success."
>>>>> George Washington Carver
>>>>>
>>>>> Confidentiality Notice: This E-mail transmission may contain
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>>>>> entity(ies)
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>>>>> acting in reliance upon the contents of this E-mail is strictly
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>>>>> Subsequently, delete the message from your system immediately.
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>>>> On Behalf Of Gary Wunder
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 12:25 PM
>>>>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Inferiority complex with disability vs
>>>>> nondisabledsociety
>>>>>
>>>>> Peter, you have asked many questions and I am certain in one sitting I
>>>>> can't begin to response to them all. Even this assumes I know all the
>>>>> answers, which I most certainly do not.
>>>>>
>>>>> I throw out these ideas and observations with the suggestion that you
>>>>> take what you like and leave the rest. It does no good to compare
>>>>> yourself with what you might have been. In the first place, you don't
>>>>> know what you might have been. I might be angry because my Dad was the
>>>>> owner of a successful construction business which I could have run and
>>>>> might be far better off financially than I am now. Without sight, I
>>>>> can't run the heavy equipment so perhaps I should be angry. Because I
>>>>> am blind, I traveled a different road, went to college, got a degree,
>>>>> and work as a computer programmer. That college experience introduced
>>>>> me to good books, to different thoughts about the world, and to a
>>>>> tolerance of other people I'd never have gotten had I stayed at home.
>>>>> Which life is the better? Unfortunately this is a question without an
>>>>> answer. I have to make of my life what is possible, without spending
>>>>> too much time grieving about some alternative future.
>>>>> In your note you acknowledge a lot of problems. Acknowledging one has
>>>>> a problem is often the first step on the road to solving it, but
>>>>> sometimes that acknowledgement is simply a way of stating the problem
>>>>> and the more we state it, the more we come to like the way we say it.
>>>>> We grow accustomed to the burden of that problem, and rather than
>>>>> using our admission to solve it, we carry it like a badge of honor.
>>>>>
>>>>> In my own work, I can tell you that blineness makes many things hard
>>>>> which others find easy. They see computer screens and what is wanted
>>>>> from them is obvious. I hear computer screens and have to often work
>>>>> pretty hard to figure out what is wanted and where I am on the screen.
>>>>> I can make a real case for how disadvantaged this makes me, but the
>>>>> more important thing is that I figure it out and be productive enough
>>>>> I can bring home a pay check.
>>>>>
>>>>> You talk about the country in which you were born. There may be better
>>>>> countries in which to be blind, but I am certain the majority are 
>>>>> worse.
>>>>> In
>>>>> your country you have the opportunity to make a contract with our
>>>>> people.
>>>>> That contract says that we, all of us, will help you with training and
>>>>> equipment if, in return, you will try your hardest to take that
>>>>> equipment and training and put it to a productive use - preferably a
>>>>> use which will pay you. You will then pay taxes, buy a home, support
>>>>> your local businesses, not to mention Wal-Mart, and everyone wins.
>>>>> Winning isn't easy, but it is far easier than carrying around the
>>>>> anger for what you might have been if only you had tried.
>>>>>
>>>>> Take your anger and, if you can, turn it into resolve. Look at your
>>>>> situation, acknowledge there are disadvantages, and at the same time
>>>>> determine how you can benefit from where you find yourself. If you
>>>>> constantly live with the dream of driving the car you once had, you'll
>>>>> be disappointed. If you live with the dream of the dcar which may come
>>>>> to be if we who are blind work together, then your sadness may just
>>>>> become a tool for hope.
>>>>>
>>>>> I wish you all the luck in the world, and where luck stops and
>>>>> personal responsibility begins, I wish you the courage to take it on.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
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>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/dgraves%40ic
>>>>> rc.in.gov
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blindtlk mailing list
>>>>> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
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>>>>> y%40att.net
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Peter
>>> Webmaster
>>> http://www.darkstruggle.com
>>> webmaster at darkstruggle.com
>>> alternative e-mail
>>> sunspot005 at gmail.com
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
>
> -- 
> Peter
> Webmaster
> http://www.darkstruggle.com
> webmaster at darkstruggle.com
> alternative e-mail
> sunspot005 at gmail.com
>
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