[Blindtlk] If the World Went Sighted..

Thu Apr 28 13:13:30 UTC 2011

Very well stated Dianne. Like sighted people--like people in general, there 
are givers and takers and if you eradicate blindness then what else do you 
eradicate?
Sherri

Please check out the link below and help blind people in your local area 
achieve their dreams by visiting
http://www.raceforindependence.org/goto/Sherri.Brun
Thank you.

Character is the side of yourself you choose to show the world. Integrity is 
what you do, what you say and how you act when you think no one is paying 
attention.
Sherri Brun
flmom2006 at gmail.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Graves, Diane" <dgraves at icrc.IN.gov>
To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] If the World Went Sighted..

> Hi Guys,
>
> Well, with regard to the goal of the current day researchers, I guess I 
> would have to muse that Adolph (spelling?) Hitler had some of the same 
> ideas. What happens in cases where technology won't eradicate the 
> blindness. There are exceptions to every rule. So what happens then? Do 
> you eradicate the person?
>
> Blindness isn't the only minority that, in some way or other, taxes 
> society. For instance, would it be more cost effective if there were no 
> diabetics, no dyslexics, no groups in need of language interpretation, 
> retirees unable to make it on their pensions? What do you do with these 
> people? It seems to me that if we got rid of all these costs, we would be 
> left with a strong, athletic young, totally able bodied, English speaking 
> (or whatever the chosen language might be) individual. Just the kind of 
> person Hitler wanted.
>
> Blindness is the sum of our minority status, the one that is relevant to 
> us, and the one that is the most feared. But we are not the only one by 
> any stretch of the imagination.
>
> Blind people are people period. Although we are often unfairly lumped into 
> one category, that isn't reality at all. We have blind people who are 
> takers their entire lives and are content to be takers, feeling society 
> owes them a free ride. I might point out that there are many sighted 
> people with this mind set as well. If they can receive public assistance 
> for their entire lives, they are happy. Then on the other hand, you have 
> just as many blind individuals who have made a wealth of contributions, 
> giving back far more than they could ever hope to receive.
>
> If I had a chance to receive my sight today, would I go for it? Well, I 
> don't know. It would depend on the risks, the cost, and a whole host of 
> other things. As things are, short of a divine miracle, that isn't going 
> to happen, and I'm completely okay with that. I  have the potential to be 
> just as productive as any of my sighted counterparts, and carry my weight 
> in society. We all have to work together to form a productive society. 
> Eradicating blindness is not the answer.
>
> 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
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of humberto
> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 11:17 PM
> To: BlindTlk at nfbNet.org
> Subject: [Blindtlk] If the World Went Sighted..
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> We recently had a discussion about how we would react if some of
> our
> blind friends could become sighted, and we asked whether it would
> be
> reasonable for a sighted person to want to go blind. This made me
> think of an interesting, although a bit painful, question:
> Would the world be better off, worse off, or about the same if
> blindness were completely eradicated, through genetic engineering
> and/or mandatory treatment of all causes of blindness?
> The question may sound silly, but for many vision researchers,
> eradication of blindness is a real goal. But does the presence of
> blind people in our society have any benefit to the society or
> the
> world as a whole?
>
> Certainly there are costs of having a small group of people in
> society
> who read and travel using different techniques than the rest.
> These
> specialized techniques have to be taught, technology has to be
> adapted
> to their use and negative public attitudes prevent this minority
> of
> people who do things differently from having full access to
> societal
> goods and opportunities. So would it be cheaper and less
> resource-demanding if everybody could use the same visual
> techniques
> to accomplish life tasks?
> On the other hand, you could perhaps argue that having people who
> use
> different senses to do things in society is advantageous.
> Technology
> is forced to innovate to become usable by those who don't have
> vision
> as well as those who do. And conceivably, if a darkness plague
> struck
> the planet, it would be better for the species if some of its
> members
> could fully function without light.
>
> What do you think? Should we as a society make an effort to get
> rid of
> blindness? Or does blindness serve any kind of social function?
> There obviously isn't a right answer here, but it's something
> that,
> for better or for worse, could become relevant to us someday.
>
> Arielle
>
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