Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract

by Marta Russell

A WARNING FROM AN UPPITY CRIP. Marta Russell exposes the neoliberal drive to shrink social services with the Reinventing Government mantra. "We are dangerously close to a Jerry Lewis democracy where... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1567511066
• ISBN13: 9781567511062
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Common Courage Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

Bridging the gap of despair

This book - a remarkable work of brevity - boosts our society's downtrodden, whether they be elderly, disabled, discriminated against or poor. "Beyond Ramps" is a call for "identity groups" - not just the disabled - to form a universalist front against capitalist-driven oppression that favors greed above dignity and value for all. It is the role of American government, Russell says, to fulfill its social contract to provide a measure of security for all people, from birth to death. Whatever your political persuasion, her passion for social and economic justice will encourage you to help the so-called least among us. "Normal" is a label the powerful use to choose those who should overcome their disabilities. Wrong, Russell explains: It's society's obligation to overcome its prejudice against the disabled by removing physical and psychological barriers. She argues against "physicalism," or basing an individual's social value on able-bodied standards. We should demand, she adds, that elected officials mend and strengthen "government's contract with its citizenry to promote and not destroy human life and happiness." Russell questions the motives of the right to die movement, sayng the mindset that drives it is akin to pseudo-scientific Social Darvinist policies used by Nazis to sterilize, kill and torture those whom nature selected as inferior. She links capitalism with Social Darwinisn, which marked the beginning of the need for people with disabilities to prove their worth. Russell points out that Republicans and too many Democrats like Bill Clinton are helping to roll back entitlements such as welfare, job training, disability spending, unemployment benefits, public housing and Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare. These cuts allow more money for more prisons, corporate welfare and increased military spending. Eschewing liberal "incrementalist" reforms, Russell calls for full-throttle democratic reforms. These include universal single-payer health care, national standards for local and state governments, mandatory full employment and living wages, corporate accountability, campaign finance reform, an end to corporate subsidies and excessive wealth, proportional representation instead of a two-party system, environmentally sustainable development instead of unlimited growth, and other reforms.Though some may be put off by Russell's progressive leanings, it is hard to resist her sincere and fervent passion for a more democratic world that values human needs and dignity above profit and the unfair distribution of wealth.

Bridging the gap of despair

This book - a remarkable work of brevity - boosts our society's downtrodden, whether they be elderly, disabled, discriminated against or poor. "Beyond Ramps" is a call for "identity groups" - not just the disabled - to form a universalist front against capitalist-driven oppression that favors greed above dignity and value for all. It is the role of American government, Russell says, to fulfill its social contract to provide a measure of security for all people, from birth to death. Whatever your political persuasion, her passion for social and economic justice will encourage you to help the so-called least among us. "Normal" is a label the powerful use to choose those who should overcome their disabilities. Wrong, Russell explains: It's society's obligation to overcome its prejudice against the disabled by removing physical and psychological barriers. She argues against "physicalism," or basing an individual's social value on able-bodied standards. We should demand, she adds, that elected officials mend and strengthen "government's contract with its citizenry to promote and not destroy human life and happiness."Russell questions the motives of the right to die movement, sayng the mindset that drives it is akin to pseudo-scientific Social Darvinist policies used by Nazis to sterilize, kill and torture those whom nature selected as inferior. She links capitalism with Social Darwinisn, which marked the beginning of the need for people with disabilities to prove their worth. Russell points out that Republicans and too many Democrats like Bill Clinton are helping to roll back entitlements such as welfare, job training, disability spending, unemployment benefits, public housing and Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare. These cuts allow more money for more prisons, corporate welfare and increased military spending. Eschewing liberal "incrementalist" reforms, Russell calls for full-throttle democratic reforms. These include universal single-payer health care, national standards for local and state governments, mandatory full employment and living wages, corporate accountability, campaign finance reform, an end to corporate subsidies and excessive wealth, proportional representation instead of a two-party system, environmentally sustainable development instead of unlimited growth, and other reforms.Though some may be put off by Russell's progressive leanings, it is hard to resist her sincere and fervent passion for a more democratic world that values human needs and dignity above profit and the unfair distribution of wealth.

Informative and shocking

I found this book extremely well-researched and well-written, and shocking - shocking, because the facts presented are shocking. The fact that many countries are far worse in terms of disability rights does not mean that we in the US should be complacent - we still have a long, long way to go. Yes, the author's political views come across strongly, but they are also backed up and we can clearly see her reasoning, even if we do not agree with 100% of it. This book is not only of interest to people with disabilities or those concerned for them - the issues raised about health care and poverty in the US, for instance, affect us all. And indeed, I think that whenever human life is devalued and regarded as nothing more than a commercial commodity, it affects us all. The author's clear sense of outrage at the injustice she sees may put some off this book, but for me it made it all the more powerful.

A must read for those with disabilities.

Geez, and my parents thought I was too much of an activist. Marta Russell writes a thought provoking and scary book on where we 'differently abled' people fit in a capitalist society. She is well-read and writes well, bringing to her book her passion that in the midst of politics and the drive to make money, we, the disabled, become easy targets for people like Kervorkian,who try to convince others that the world is better off without us. Perhaps the most scary part of the book is the lack of medical ethics with which many in the medical world view us, and as Ms. Russell supports with facts that medical journals themselves have found, medical personnel seem to place meager value on our lives. Since this is a big issue in medical ethics, as I know from medical school, this book should be required reading for medical students, nurses, and those in public health. The need for more active involvement by the disabled in their own care and their own lives, and the need for political momentum to protect ourselves has been nicely elucidated by Ms. Russell. Well done. Karen Sadler University of Pittsburgh

VERY INFORMATIVE,DISTUBING BOOK,COULD NOT BE READ QUICKLY

I AM BECOMING MORE INTERESTED IN WANTING TO CHANGE THE GOVERMENT'S LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT IS TO BE DISABLED IN THIS COUNTRY. I AM THERE. I AM RECOVERING FROM A MAJOR STROKE.AS I BECAME ENLIGHTENED, I ALSO BECAME ANGERED ,ASHAMED OF OUR GOVERMENT AND OF BOTH PARTIES .THIS BOOK OPENED MY EYES AND ALSO BROUGHT ON THE TEARS . DR TOM