"I'm Special: So let's disable America"

Everyone, at one time or another, has felt the barbs of what it's like, not to fit in with the majority. To feel the sting of feeling (note, I said "feeling" and not "being") discriminated against. For some, this feeling is a pervasive, invasive aspect, forefront in all aspect affecting their lives. Like the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1990, the following is motivated by good intentions. And we are all familiar with what that road of good intentions is often paved with...

From the Associated Press:

The government discriminates against blind people by printing money that all looks and feels the same, a federal judge said Tuesday in a ruling that could change the face of American currency.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson ordered the Treasury Department to come up with ways for the blind to tell bills apart. He said he wouldn't tell officials how to fix the problem, but he ordered them to begin working on it.

Did he even devote one iota of brain cell to thinking about what the costs would be to society? Or is it all about feel good politics? I'm not saying that such a ruling is necessarily wrong. It is a decision based upon compassion and the desire to make the world more accessible to those less fortunate not to have the same level of access to resources that the majority enjoys. It is ultimately bringing more productivity into the lives of the blind.

The American Council of the Blind has proposed several options, including printing bills of differing sizes, adding embossed dots or foil to the paper or using raised ink.

That actually sounds a bit like fun, having some more diversity in our currency. But again, did Judge Robertson really think this through? Will the economic costs of change be worth footing the bill (puns intended)?

If the blind want to be treated like everyone else, why the "special treatment"? It's once again, "the nanny government", that will have liberals trying to make life "fair" for all people. The reality is, that life isn't fair. I don't mean to be callous, but where does it ever end? This neediness not for "equal treatment", but for "equal prospects of success"?

It is narcissism that has the majority oppressed by the will of the minority. It is the driving force behind why we have voting ballots in multiple languages. Accomodation because it makes economic and business sense is one thing; but accomodation because of some misguided sense of diversity and multiculturalism...of wanting to make everyone feel equally special, is quite something else.

I'm too short for the NBA. *Ahem*, I mean: "vertically challenged". Excuse me. So should certain rule changes take place, so that the playing field can be leveled, and made "fair"? After all, it's a sport that "discriminates" against short people. Either we bring the hoop down to my size so I can also slam dunk; or I get to wear "elevator shoes"; which makes about as much sense as a paraplegic being allowed to drive a wheelchair in a track race whose original purpose is based around determining who the fastest competitor on two legs could be; perhaps we could have mulitiple hoops on the court at varying degrees of height, based upon each athlete's unique size. Next, we change the size of the ball, because I have small hands, which affects my dexterity with the ball....you see where I'm going with this? Those may be extreme examples of "equality"-fixation; but it is still the line of thinking of those who seek to make all things fair and equal to all people. I'm just sick of people who complain about such things as there aren't enough gays on TV. If gays are (let's just pretend here for the sake of argument) 10% of the population, then television does reflect the reality. If blacks are 13% of the population, then television is over-represented with black actors; because I believe there are far more than 13% blacks on my television screen. Yet, we still hear complaints that there aren't enough acting roles for minorities. How ridiculous would that be if every minority group filed for equal representation in the NBA, which most clearly is dominated by black players? Participants should be based upon the merits of their skill and talent; not the color of their skin. It is a form of narcissism, to demand that your "special interest group" have equal representation. Why aren't there more Asian males in lead roles? Does it really matter? Yes...and NO.

I like Morgan Freeman's response when questioned how we get over race: "Quit talking about it." What that means is, not to ignore the problem of racism; but just to quit creating and perpetuating the racism by obsessing over it so much.

Link of interest: "It's Our Money Too!"