Rule by Defectives

(Previously posted to Patreon)

This obsession with trying to structure the world around defective people is annoying, and probably a really bad idea. Both for the individuals being coddled, and for society as a whole. Maybe even for civilization.

It's nice to do helpful things for the defective, when you can. And to encourage them to do things for themselves. What isn't nice is damaging everyone else by the effort to accommodate them. A "lowest common denominator" society is a dying society. Or, as L. Neil Smith has written, "Euro-American welfare statism's preoccupation with 'the halt and the lame' isn't an iota healthier than the obsession of ancient Egypt's priest-kings with death."

Seems like no matter what you want to do these days, there is some group of victims out there saying you can't, or you'll be hurting them.

Maybe I'm just not nice, but I just don't have much sympathy for those who think their defects entitle them to whittle away at everyone else's freedom.

Everyone is defective; not everyone is "a defective".

I'm defective. My eyesight is horrible. I'm emotionally scarred by my daughter's recent death. I'm tall enough that I constantly hit my head on things built for short people- and sometimes it really hurts (and is why I usually wear a hat, even indoors). I am unsuited for the modern world in ways I can't articulate. But I don't demand everyone make the world safe for my defects, at the expense of everyone else. It is my responsibility to accommodate myself and my needs. I know what my defects are, and I can learn- I will learn- to navigate around them.

But the defective victim whiners don't want that responsibility.

If I am allergic (one of the most over-used justifications today) to tobacco smoke or peanuts, I understand that my allergy- my defect- will limit my freedom to go where I want. It doesn't give me the right, created out of thin air, to tell you where you are allowed to smoke or eat peanuts. That's between you and the property owner.

If I go into a business and bump my head on all their doorways or hanging signage, it is my responsibility to either duck or go elsewhere.

If I can't read a sign because of my eyesight, it doesn't create a responsibility in others to make bigger signs or to give me better glasses- even if not being able to read the sign could kill me.

If I am distraught due to my daughter's death, it doesn't create a right for me to punch people who joke about death.

Yes, taking responsibility for myself will make my life more difficult. Learning to deal with it will hone my senses and cognitive abilities. Coddling me to remove every bump from my path will only make me more defective than I was before.

That the consequences in the case of allergies could be more serious than me bumping my head doesn't shift responsibility to someone else.

I am much, MUCH more likely to try to accommodate those who don't make demands or throw "laws" at me. Once you make demands I will view you as a jerk, and I will probably enjoy seeing your discomfort. Perhaps that's another of my defects.

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