Recently a woman moral philosopher, on a television programme, was discussing whether disabled children should be conceived or born, if it was known that they would be disabled.
She said
Disabled people didn't contribute anything.
They were a drain on resources.
I thought
What would the opinion be of:
researchers; doctors; social workers; charity organisers; occupational therapists; nurses; social security officials; hospital staff and administrators; day centre managers; organisers of charity events; publicists of firms using television charity events to advertise their products and improve their image; companies using charity donations as tax deductions; physiotherapists; sessional arts workers; residential institutions staff, managers, administrators; speech therapists; aids and equipment manufactures, equipment sales staff; charity managers, administrators and directors; administrators of arts activities in day centeres and hospitals; teachers in special schools; taxi and coach drivers taking disabled children to schools; car makers and sales people selling under the motorbility scheme; manufactures and distributors of hospital supplies and equipment,
whose jobs would disappear, if we disappeared.
I also considered
what do moral philosophers contribute?
I finished a painting today.
The moral philosopher wore ear-rings and make-up
Today I ate food and used paint
I was glad to see what good use she put the earth's resources to.
I also used electricity in watching her on television,
what a waste - a drain on resources,
next time I'll switch off
Or perhaps next time,
disabled people will be asked to contribute to a programme about disability issues and we too can use the fee to help employment in the jewelry and cosmetic industry.
The west stresses population control to ease the crisis of the world's resources.
On the radio a Bangadeshi man said children in Britain use 40 to 100 times the resources and North American children 200 times the resources of a Bangledeshi child.
WEALTH - AFFLUENCE DEPLETES RESOURCES
Perhaps we should have audits of people's jobs - their contribution. Measuring their product against what resources are used to enable them to produce it. Including those used in sustaining their life-style, travelling, education etc. We might find a saving of resources would be had if SOME people just stayed at home.
The equation of high, over use of resources is with affluence rather than disability.