By Adrian Chan-Wyles
THE
TERM “invalid” has been used for decades to describe a human being who is
subject to a psychological or physical disability. The term “invalid” means quite clearly that
the subject being described is in a state of existence that is free of
value. The in-valid state is one
stripped of consensual value. Society as
a whole withdraws acknowledgement of “value” from a human being who happens to
be subject to a unique or unusual psychological or physical limitation. What is it that has no value?
In this respect the “value-less” aspect of the disabled
state is one that re-enforces the interpretation of a lack of productability in
the work place. Regardless of the
quality of life of the disabled person, or the effort made to come to terms
with the state of everyday life, the disabled person in a capitalist society is
reduced to a theoretical measurement of the possible productive force, or
available, exploitative output in the work place. Any such base assumption can only ever be “theoretical”
in nature, as it is not a statement in fact, but rather a profound,
debilitating prejudice disguised as objective, economic science. Invalidity as a concept has no bearing in the
outside world of commerce, and is merely a dismissive concept created by the capitalist
system to invalidate an entire section of the working-class.
In reality the capitalist
system is judging the so-called “disabled” person unworthy of the usual
exploitative forces associated with free market economics. The disabled person does not warrant the
status of “exploitable” worker, as if a certain line can not be reached or
crossed. To extract the necessarily
assumed exploitable worth (value) from the disabled person requires a financial
and labour intensive input that the bourgeois employer is unwilling to meet –
even in theory. This theoretical
pre-cost of employing a disabled worker is considered to be so high that
profitability for the employer is judged to be greatly reduced as a
consequence. This is a system-wide
assumption in a capitalist society and condemns millions of human beings to an
existence outside of the usual work-force environment.
The starting line
for the physically fit worker is deemed to be unreachable for the disabled
person. The disabled person is judged
solely upon a dysfunctioning, or missing limb or organ. The human body of a disabled person is judged
as if it is a factory with missing machine parts, and as a consequence, is broken
and non-productive to the capitalist system.
The totality of the state of human existence is ignored completely.
That a person with
a disability may well have perfectly functioning body and mind outside of the
disabled aspect is never considered. A
disabled person is judged by “what is not there”, rather than on what is
there. It makes no difference whatsoever
– to the capitalist – what kind of disability is under discussion, or the type
of personality of the person concerned.
The judgement is one of a systemic dysfunctionality and as a
consequence, a complete redundancy. A
human consciousness, born into the working-class is negated to a state of “incompleteness”,
and economic non-existence. The disabled
person can neither work their way out of poverty, or, indeed into poverty. Theirs is a neutral position that denies the
possibility of validity, and the (accumulative) positive attributes society
associates with such a state.
More than this,
however, this state of “lacking” has another aspect implicitly associated with
it. It is not a new difference, but is
another way of viewing the “invalid” state.
The bourgeois establishment, not only content with stripping away the
self-evident and positive state of what it is to a “worker”, also further
denigrates the individual by allotting the judgement of “invalid”, as if it
were the invention of those subjected to it.
The bourgeois, capitalist system creates a dysfunctional category
deprived of all human dignity and means of self-betterment through work – and
then blames the disempowered victim himself, for the limitations (he
experiences on a daily basis), which are enforced from the outside. As if the fictitious state of the “invalid”,
(that is “those existing without value”), is an invention of the so-called “invalid”
or disabled people themselves.
The disabled are
blamed in two distinct ways by the bourgeois state, namely in that they are
declared “inferior” to those with no obvious psychological or physical
disability, and blamed for attracting
such a categorisation, as if they have some how collectively requested the bourgeois
system to impose this demeaning interpretation upon them, when the truth of the
matter is that disabled people are the victims of those who have access to social
power, because they, as a collective, have little or no access to the same
social power.
Deprived of the
validity to participate as a worker in society as a whole, the bourgeois system
ensures that this state is maintained by excluding the disabled from suitable
employment, and therefore wealth and influence in society. The disabled, as a class deemed “invalid”,
are thereby condemned to a state of permanent psychological and physical
impoverishment. Everything is stripped
from them before they are born, as they enter a world that rejects them as an
equal and valid human being, from the first moment of existence.
This is effectively
a state of servitude, but unlike the life of a slave, no work is intended or
allowed. Disability is servitude without
objective or end. Whereas the state of conventional slavery can theoretically
come to an end, the state of what it is to be judged an “invalid” is permanent,
with no apparent redeeming qualities.
This implies that any psychological and physical limitation, such as
those experienced by the disabled, can not be reformed, abolished or
transformed through any political process.
The state of
invalidity may use differing expressions, but the underlying reality always
stays the same. The surface structure of
the expression may change from time to time, but the underlying reality is
always constant and unchanging.
Profitability is reduced by disability, and human nature, as a
consequence, is reduced to a mere statistic.
This reduction can not be rescued – even mathematically. The disabled person is reduced to a state of
being “sub-human”.
This should be read
with a clear mind. The bourgeois
thinkers allow this to happen because commercial profitability is far more
important to them than the personal dignity of their fellow human beings. Sub-humanity, as an accepted category, allows
the disabled workers to fall victim to the horrorific practices of the
biological determinists. This has been
seen in history during 20th century Europe,
which saw laws that rounded up the disabled out of mainstream society, and into
holding camps where they were treated with barbarism and malice in the extreme,
culminating in mass sterilisation and extermination campaigns. Bourgeois logic allowed for the development
of certain philosophies that advocated the removal of those who possess no
apparent value in the capitalist system.
These happenings,
with the defeat of Nazi Germany, came to be seen as extremism with no place in
the civilised western world, and yet, even after this holocaust of those with
no value, (the “invalids”), the equilibrium of the demeaning of those who
suffer a disability was quickly re-established, with no change whatsoever in
its structure. The state of invalidity
attracts no positive emotional responses.
All emotion is negative, and designed to maintain the status quo of
disempowerment.
The disabled are not to be “freed”, actively encouraged, or
given equality of any kind, but rather pitied, and sentimentalised. There can be no inspiration for those in the
disabled position. This is how the
situation exists. Although the
oppression is like a heavy rock on the dignity of the disabled person, and that
the bourgeois system attempts to continuously replicate the demeaning position,
it is, nevertheless, not a true state of nature, but rather a contrived state
of human making, and like any human-made state, it can and will change, when
awareness of its structure is thoroughly understood by those subject to
it.
In the past, the disabled were excluded from education, but
this has changed rapidly in recent times.
The shackles of bourgeois tyranny can be thrown off for ever, through
the development of understanding.
Two men, of equal
age, size and strength, with no apparent psychological and physical disability
have, for sake of argument two very different skills. Worker “A” is a lumberjack, whilst worker “B”
is a computer technician. Worker “A” cannot
use a computer, but this inability is not deemed a “disability”. Worker “B” cannot cut wood, but this is not
considered a “disability”. Both men
possess certain skills, and lack other skills.
Their lack of skill does not reduce them to the state of “‘invalid”.
Worker “‘C” has
one-hand and is a lumberjack. Worker “D”
has one-foot and is a computer technician.
Worker “C” has a disability, and yet can perform a job that a man with
two-hands usually performs. He does this
by adapting his ability to the task at hand.
Worker “‘D” has a disability, but this does not affect the use of his
mind when manipulating the computer keyboard – again, he merely adjusts his
ability toward the task at hand. Workers
“A” and “B” lack certain skills, but are not considered “invalid” to the capitalist
system. Workers “C” and “D”, although
disabled, have definite and obvious abilities – they even exhibit a greater
adaptability than their fellow able-bodied workers, but nevertheless, they are
defined by what is lacking in their body (or mind), and their positive
capabilities are completely ignored.
The label of “invalidity” is as unjust as it is
immoral. It has no basis in fact, and is
the bourgeois expression of immense ignorance, developed through greed and
avarice. Disabled workers, although
subject to the immense pressures of social constraints, should, where possible,
educate themselves beyond the bourgeois cul-de-sac of illogicality that defines
their life situation. The educated mind
transcends the narrow confines of ignorance and paves the way for the
development of true freedom. Of course
the obstacles can still be daunting. The
bourgeois employer will judge the applicant according to disability, rather
than in relation to ability. In this
way, and through this method, it is often the case that those human beings with
disabilities are kept firmly out of the job market. But the first crucial stage of emancipation
is that of intellectual (and spiritual) independence from the requirement to
rely upon the exploitative system.
This is not an easy
task, and there will always be set-backs, but by freeing the mind, the body
will soon follow. At any rate, the
physical conditions for change should be worked toward and developed, so that
the optimum time for transition is not wasted.
Education is the worker’s duty – regardless of ability or
disability. People who are multiply
handicapped should be placed in a position whereby communal caring allots them
dignity and self-determination. One
thing is certain: the old ways of viewing the world must transform and give way
to clearer and far reaching thinking.
The invalidation of the worker must cease, as it gives expression to the
worst kind of enslavement. This must
happen within the mind of the disabled worker, and the minds of his fellow
workers, simultaneously. Only then can
humanity progress as a whole toward a better future.
