[nfb-talk] A few of my own observations

[John Heim]

Jim, you seem like a nice guy but holy cow! The biggest battle blind people 
face is inside our own heads? Well, I have to say that is pure BS. There's 
no battle going on in my head and I don't feel inferior to anybody. Never 
did.

I don't want the NFB looking out for my psyche. I don't need that and I 
don't want it. I want them to get me money I can tell apart.  I don't need 
emotional support. I need to be able to tell a $1 from a $20 somehow. Yeah, 
I guess I can just ask the clerk (most of the time). But I sure as heck 
don't need the NFB helping me fight the battle in my head.   There are no 
voices in my head and there's no battle going on in there.

If you're going to say the fact that I want accessible money *proves* that I 
need help, well, then you're just arguing in circles. You cant prove that I 
shouldn't want accessible money by pointing out that I want accessible 
money. That doesn't make any more sense than it would to tell a guy in a 
wheel chair that he needs an attitude adjustment if he wants  curb cuts. It 
is quite offensive to me for you to presume that because I'm blind, there 
must be a battle going on in my head. It's offensive to me that the NFB's 
core philosophy assumes that I need to be told how to run my life.

You seem to have missed the point with the audible signal. I am about as 
sure as I can be that it made me safer. But that's not a key point. The 
point is that demanding change seems to work. It worked for me. It seems to 
work for people in wheel chairs. It seems to work for the AARP. Why in the 
world should I buy into the NFB philosophy?

I am VI, hear me roar!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Marks" <blind.grizzly at gmail.com>
To: "'NFB Talk Mailing List'" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 3:54 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A few of my own observations


> The biggest battle blind people face occurs inside our own heads.
> Traditional wisdom tells us that we are inferior, and hardly a day passes 
> in
> which that message is not sent and received.  However, if we really 
> believe
> in ourselves, even when the faith defies reason, we can accomplish much 
> more
> than if we allow the outside world to tell us what it means to be blind.
>
> John you raise two issues that you suppose to be examples of how badly the
> blind are treated.  I can see why you might think this.  For me, 
> accessible
> money is a ho-hum sort of thing.  Sure, it would be nice to have 
> accessible
> money, but it's just not high on my priority list.  The audible pedestrian
> signals are a different matter for me.  Many believe that they provide
> better safety.  Although I'm sure there are a few instances in which the
> extra information may be necessary,  I've yet to see any research that
> supports the claim that the audible pedestrian signals increase safety in
> most instances.  My personal experience is that the chirps, beeps, and
> clicks actually interfere with traffic noise, which creates a safety
> problem.  But we're not really debating these two issues, are we?  I think
> we are really debating what we think about blindness.
>
> The NFB philosophy is about doing for yourself the things you can do for
> yourself before asking that the environment be changed.  To be a 
> non-victim
> is to thrive in any environment, accessible or otherwise.  Moreover, no
> amount of environmental accessibility will make my blindness go away.  I
> could live in the perfectly accessible world, and I would still be blind.
> So, it makes good sense to become good at being blind.  The first 
> attention
> goes to positive thoughts and sound blindness skills.  Then, when we do 
> ask
> for modifications in the environment, we do so with the dignity that we 
> are
> not depending on the kindness of strangers.  And that's what I mean by 
> being
> a change victim.  I do not want to depend on others to do for me the 
> things
> I can do myself.  Sometimes, I do rely on environmental accessibility and
> support from others.  The NFB is not aiming for a world in which blind
> people are islands.  Inter-dependence can be healthy, and we merely want 
> to
> do our part in the give and take of humanity.  For sure, the NFB 
> emphasizes
> personal responsibility.  I like the NFB emphasis on personal 
> responsibility
> because this is where real power comes from.  My thinking these days goes
> way beyond being stuck in victimhood.  I want to influence and to make 
> life
> better for others while enjoying a decent lifestyle at the same time.  And
> that's why it's so important to truly and completely believe it is
> respectable to be blind.
>
> John, you don't have the corner on truth.  I'm not sure if any of us 
> really
> do.  But my money is on the NFB to deliver for me and others like me.  I
> hope for your sake and the sake of others that you will listen more than 
> you
> talk, and that you will think critically about your own prejudices and the
> voices in your own head.  Best of luck to you!
>
>
>
> -------
> Jim Marks
> blind.grizzly at gmail.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-talk-bounces+blind.grizzly=gmail.com at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces+blind.grizzly=gmail.com at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> John Heim
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 1:56 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A few of my own observations
>
> Well, the debate seems to have come around full circle.   This is good
> though because philosophy is still my #1 priority.
>
> I just cannot buy this "change victim" line of reasoning. People in wheel
> chairs don't seem like "change victims" when they demanded and got curb
> cuts, wheel chair ramps, accessible bathrooms, and disabled parking 
> spaces.
> The AARP doesn't seem like a group of victims. They seem pretty 
> successful.
> On the other hand, the United States is the only country in the world with
> money that blind people can't differentiate.
>
> Can you please explain to me exactly what a "change victim" is? Can you
> explain to me exactly why I should not demand that the world be remade to 
> my
> liking? Say I sued the Treasury Department for accessible money and won.
> What bad thing would happen to me?  All of a sudden i might start 
> demanding
> still more accomodations? Like how people in wheelchairs demanded curb 
> cuts
> and then wheelchair ramps, and then accessible bathrooms, and then 
> disabled
> parking spaces? Huh... I'm just not getting what the drawback is here.
>
> These are not intended to be rhetorical questions.  I have yet to see 
> anyone
> really explain what advantages there is to the "don't be a change victim"
> approach. Because I sure don't feel like a victim when I demand that the
> Treasury Department, part of my own government, not use my own tax dollars
> to print money that I can't differentiate.  on the contrary, I think we
> should be saying, "I am VI, hear me roar!"
>
> A few years ago, I got a different job at the UW and I had to start 
> crossing
> a very busy street each morning. Well, the light gave me only about 15
> seconds to cross. And often, because cars run the red, I couldn't be sure 
> I
> had the green until I had 10 - 12 secondss to cross.  By that time, cars
> going my way but turning were in the intersection and I'd have to wait for
> them. It wouldn't do any good to wait for the next cycle because it would
> just happen again.  And believe me, the oncoming cars didn't wait for me 
> to
> finish crossing before coming on when the light changed back. More than 
> once
> I stood huddled between lanes while cars zoomed past.
>
> So I called the city and asked to have audible signals installed. The city
> planner balked saying people complained about the noise. This was 
> obviously
> absurd since it's a very busy intersection right in the middle of the
> University of Wisconsin campus.  After trying to reason with him with a 
> few
> more calls and emails , I finally said, "you're going to put audible 
> signals
> on that corner or i'm going to call the local TV station and you can 
> explain
> to them why my safety is less important than your imaginary complainers."
> The signals were installed the next week.
>
> At what part of that process should I have felt like a victim?
>
> Because I have to say, I felt like anything but a victim when those 
> signals
> were installed. Although, if I had it to do over again, I'd have started
> wacking oncoming cars with my cane when I was pinned between lanes.  Would 
> I
> have pissed people off? You bet I would have and I'd have been damn proud 
> of
> it.
>
> as for what I personally am doing... Well, I'm hoping to plant the seed of
> doubt in the minds of some percentage of the people on this list. I don't
> expect to  convince everyone. I'm not sure I can convince anyone. But, I'm 
> a
> believer (for lack of a better  word) in Mohandas K. Gandhi's idea of
> satchygraha. Roughly translated it means "power of truth". The idea is 
> that
> the truth itself has power.
>
>
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