Myth of Equality

KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: For more than 30 years, children with disabilities have been integrated into the education mainstream as specialist schools have closed their doors. It mirrors a change in community attitudes, but hasn't always been embraced by parents of disabled children. Even with one-on-one help in the classroom and visiting specialist teachers, some parents say mainstream schools aren't meeting their children's needs and can leave them socially isolated.

In Victoria, a number of parents devastated by the closure of the state's only school for the blind say the pendulum on integration has swung too far and ideology is denying them the right to choose. Lisa Whitehead reports.




A lot of modern social policy riles me. For example, closing down schools for blind children and expecting them to learn in an ordinary school. In fact there are countless of examples of misguided public policy such as closing down of mental asylums and turning patients out into the community.
At the core of all these follies is a mindset that is as simple as it is deluded. That is the idea that we are all equal. A communist sourced idea if you will.
If we begin with the premise that we are all equal then it follows that blind and disabled people are equal to the rest of the community. They are not handicapped, just different. In fact the same goes for mentally insane people. Doesn't it follow that we should remove any special facilities for blind or disabled people and treat them equally? In fact, let's take away the special parking spots for disabled people. How is that any different from closing down schools for blind children?


But this universal equality doesn't end here. It can be applied anywhere and everywhere.
For example:

• Where do you think the concept of multi-culturalism comes from? The idea that all cultures are equal? 
• How about all religions are equal? Yes Islam is equal to Buddhism and Christianity...
  
• Consider the claim by Creationists that Intelligent Design is a scientific theory and therefore should be considered equally plausible to Darwinism. Labeling Intelligent Design as science(even though this is false) makes it the equal of all other scientific disciplines.
  
• The rise of the Feminist movement came about because of a perception that women were not being treated equally to men even though they were equal.
• How about the idea that gays and straights are equal. It follows that a gay couple can be equally good parents as a m/f couple. Or so some people believe or choose to disbelieve.
• Animals have equal rights to humans and hence animal liberation.

Let's not get carried away with the myth of equality.
Further reading,  Myth of Equality" article by Leon Felkins.