Anti-Disability Cuts Protests Buried By Media

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Anybody notice the articles on the local or national news about the protests by disabled people at various branches of Atos Origin, part of the fight by disabled people in the UK to NOT be forced into a slow death of neglect and starvation?

You won't have, because nobody covered it. Nice to see that the media in the UK really cares about the disabled, just like our MPs, our celebrities, and the general public.

Aktion T-4 here we come.

It's a little sad I guess but the fact is western economies don't have the money to throw away any longer. Hopefully a reduction in spending and taxes will encourage more bussinesses to hire.

Ah, so it is just not prudent to keep the rest of us around, eh?!

I realize you had likely not intended to actually say that, but that is definite evidence of corporations having no conscience.

Yeah. I really hope what you meant by "throw away" was to reference OTHER people's mentality, and not your own.

Ah, so "Supporting the Disabled" is "Throwing Away Money." Gotcha. You could have lifted that sentiment straight off a propaganda poster. And businesses are going to hire the disabled over and above the milions of skilled workers who are being cut from local authorities no doubt? And of course those who who are entirely incapable of self-supporting employment are now a "waste." Clearly you missed the point of New Crobuzon. "Its a little sad." ..that people will die?

So the media don't care, the politicians don't care, the celebrities care more about fish, and apparently even the disabled themselves don't care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49sMJQVuqPA

Looks like the ironic nature of this phone conversation is due to become a necessity then.

I just googled "Aktion T-4." Don't you think you're over-reacting a little?

I'm not prepared to take the risk, frankly. Sitting around and letting s**t like this happen is how it got so far last time. So far,actions by ATOS, the DWP, the media and the government have reflected steps taken in 1930s Germany, and like then, very few people are speaking out on behalf of the people being treated thusly. Should we just accept that we are a waste of money and die of neglect and homelessness?

The "cost" of caring for the disabled, the use of the disabled as a scapegoat for problems that are nothing to do with them, the consistent lies..the desire to create a dual standard of the deserving and undeserving poor, the constant insistence that the disabled are a drain on taxpayers.... all happened before. There are new spins to it, but I for one do not appreciate being accused of causing an economic crisis. I do not appreciate being called a "waste" either, nor do I appreciate my children being called a "waste".

Not to mention, there have already been deaths caused by the inhumane activities of these bodies, and I see NO action on their part that will reduce the possibility of there being more. So until I see some activity to that effect. or some acceptance by these groups that they have made fraudulent claims and used unfit process I will continue to point out that these bodies are preparing for a new Aktion T4.

I just worry that to someone who doesn't share your beliefs, you might sound a bit mental. After all, the behavior of Atos and the lack of media coverage are bad things in their own right, regardless of what might happen in the future.

I'm not sure some Aspies have the mental abilities to really understand collectivism or acting as a collective to protect our shared economic interests. You're wasting your breath with some of the Ayn Rand readers on here! Did you manage to get down to a protest yourself? I am thinking about going down to London on March 29th for the TUC demo against all cuts.

@macbeth btw

Closest one to us was in Leeds, and we've just had a baby 7 weeks ago. I'm not prepared to risk a newborn at the hands of the police at this time (or any time) because they've already demonstrated to me that they cannot be trusted with treating the disabled properly, or children, and I do not wish to leave my partner and child unsupported by spending time in cells which is an inevitability as I have no tolerance for police brutality. (And I speak from experience. Its happened before. If it happened again, I suspect the missus would have a nervous breakdown. )

Never mind the cost to get there and back, which is a push at the best of times. I'm afraid that my work will have to be more local or online-based for the moment. Which might actually have more of an impact, as clearly direct action makes no impact on the press at all unless you set fire to a copper, or yourself. That and "local" to us is no less a personage than Ed "Atos-Visit" Milliband. There is every possibility that the Condems will be out next time round, and Ed will be in, so it wont hurt to lean on him about it.

Sadly this is all part of a divide-and-conquer mindset. EVERYBODY is facing cuts (needed or not) and thus nobody seems prepared to look beyond their own immediate issue of choice. Normally there would be more interest from outside concerns.

What REALLY pisses me off though is the fact that all these cuts are so badly thought out, and will end up COSTING the taxpayer money, not saving it. The ONLY people making money from these cuts are ATOS and A4E.

f*****g Milliband. What a c**t! I wish Tony Benn was 20 or 30 years younger. I reckon he'd have him out in about 6 months. The tide is turning against the condems (todays economic figures will help and i think even The CBI will eventually turn against the coalition when they plunge us back into recession). We need a commitment to restore incapacity benefit and DLA in the next Labour manifesto and we need that Manifesto to be legally binding. It's going to be tough as the nature of disability mean's we find it harder to protest than the likes of students (whom i support) do.

I think thats one reason why these protests haven't been so well attended. I help run a social group for local aspies, and its hard enough getting them to co-ordinate when they are going somewhere they want to go and doing something fun. Getting them to do anything that stresses them is impossible.

Not to mention the sheer physical nature of protesting. Getting kettled as an able-bodied young person is hard enough. Getting kettles as a disabled person is nightmarish. Hell just GETTING to the places involved is hard enough. ATOS make a POINT of making their places hard to access.

I am in favor of both more jobs and a better social net. I think Norway can be put down as a success story. In fact, there was a recent Inc magazine article which I'll try to find, and which said among other things, that if you add up the cost of taxes AND private health insurance, it is sometimes cheaper to hire an employee in Norway than in the United States!

The internet is a useful social organising tool but if often means the cops are waiting for you at your target. Personally i think protest's should be aimed a t politician's (whom are accountable to the electorate) rather than ATOS whom are accountable to their shareholders. I dont think you can force ATOS to change its behaviour at all without somehow harming it's profit margins.

From my protests against the First Gulf War (1990-1991), the build-up in 1990, the war itself in 1991, police brutality is definitely a possibility. Even scarier was the Republican National Convention in 1992.

Some police really don't like protestors, regardless of the issue being protested. Yes, even though we are living in a democracy, some individual police officers take a much more authoritarian outlook, esp if they give 'an order' which is viewed as all sacred. Please seek the counsel of more experienced activists and have a support system, including legal, set up in advance if you can get it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtTUsqra-MU&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

Man stands alone when facing down an armoured truck in Egypt.