Of all the things you could reasonably criticize the US over, wheelchair accessibility ain’t one of them. Especially compared to Europe.
I thought the idea was that Republicans are actively working on destroying what has been working fine and is benefitting lots of people, not just on preventing more progress.
Abortion rights, voting rights, gay marriage, privacy, trans rights, immigration, housing, the economy, net neutrality, take your pick.
As if Democrats don’t do the exact same thing in lock step. Interesting where your focus lies however. It’s helpful though because it indicates your bias.
The ignorance you’re showing here is absolutely astounding. Banning things and removing certain people’s rights is a defining part of US republican politics. Every damn week, there’s a new thing they’ve decided is evil and needs to be banned. That’s very much not the case with US democrat politics. Sure, there are things they too want to ban or change, but it’s based on logic and not a constant stream of new things.
It’s purposefully hyperbolic to illustrate a point. You think that Finland is seriously making all ice cream free?
I would not be the least bit surprised if all the Abbotts and Thomases and Trumps and Desantises (Desanti?) announced tomorrow that they would no longer be supporting the ADA’s immoral drain on commercial profits governmental budgets.
And before someone points it out, gutting a system that he has personally benefited from to fuck over Texans is exactly the kind of thing Abbott would do.
They would never make the fish flavored ice cream free. The economy would collapse.
We don’t have fish flavored one, but we got ice cream that tastes like ammonium chloride
And before someone points it out, gutting a system that he has personally benefited from to fuck over Texans is exactly the kind of thing Abbott would do.
Not would, he has. After the tree crippled him, he sued for his wealth. Then he outlawed the same type of payouts for the exact type of lawsuits he benefited from. Definition of pulling the ladder up behind you.
My point is that it’s not a good illustration.
Just read through some of the responses I’ve gotten. Some people think it’s a good illustration because it’s very plausible. Some because it’s not at all plausible.
I’m saying it’s not a good illustration because it’s not at all plausible.
I don’t think it makes much difference whether or not it is plausible. It’s just trying to communicate a message. I guess it has to be plausible enough that a reader can understand what it is even talking about; but not so plausible that the reader is led to believe this specific case is actually happening.
On the other hand, disallowin wheelchair ramps because there are not mentioned in the Bible would be a very American move.
Evangelical Christian assholes are not uniquely southern, have you been anywhere outside of a city in any state?
Americans are not the caricatures of evil and malice you seem to think we are.
You are currently debating whether hospitals can let women die instead of performing abortions
Evil and malicious? Of course not. Mislead by a tailor-made Christian cult that always supports whatever the cult leader thinks is important? Literally nothing more American than that. We have a state that was founded for that propose. The largest, consistent voting block in America is fueled by exactly this.
Especially compared to Europe?
What? Europe very sound protection for the disabled. Putside of historical buildings built before disability care you won’t find better access anywhere.
I get America is pretty good too, but your comment makes it sound like Europe is a nightmare for the disabled.
Not sure about how good or bad it is in the US, but in the Netherlands (a place that is known for good infrastructure) it’s definitely not perfect.
I never realised until we got a baby and I started walking with a stroler. Way too often the sidewalk is inaccessible because of cars or bicycles. Also lots of places without ramps or elevators.
You have a sidewalk, that is obstructed sometimes. Having a sidewalk puts in like the top 10% of countries instantly lol
Europe very sound protection for the disabled. Putside of historical buildings built before disability care you won’t find better access anywhere.
But that’s the point: Most buildings were built before disability care, and haven’t been upgraded.* Think about your favorite restaurant, bar, kebab place, corner shop etc. – I don’t think any of mine are wheelchair accessible. Also good luck taking a train in Germany, where many platforms aren’t wheelchair accessible and they might or might not have a lift to get you into the train.
The Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) is miles ahead of any legal framework that I’m aware of in Europe. The US is a broken country in many ways, but that doesn’t mean that literally anything and everything has to be worse than in glorious Europe.
*The former is true for the US too, but the ADA still required many of them to make reasonable accomodations.
Think about your favorite restaurant, bar, kebab place, corner shop etc.
All have wheelchair ramps. Even the townhall that was built in the 1700s has a wheelchair ramp, as does the church built in the 1400s.
I only know a handful of places that are in the centre of dense cities that don’t have them.
Then if I wanted to make comparisons to the US, yes lots of buildings are wheelchair acceptable, but they still expect you to drive between those buildings, even if you’re disabled, so sidewalks and crossing points are abysmal.
I get that Europe is pretty good too, but the OP makes it sound like America is a nightmare for the disabled.
You do see my point, you just don’t like it.
If you wouldn’t have put the last sentence into your first comment, your point would be fine. Same with your second comment
I get what the tweet is trying to say. What I’m saying is that wheelchair accessibility is a particularly bad example for that point.
It’s an excellent example. Politicians take something the US does great, and fuck it up because of their religious zealousy.
huh? america is absolute garbage for wheelchair access, the ADA is absolutely not sufficient
fuckin have fun navigating the average suburb with a wheelchair, you can’t even walk to the store in most places
you can’t even walk to the store in most places
I’d imagine walking to the store in a wheelchair to be incredibly difficult.
Technically in common disability parlance the motion of movement in a wheel chair is still considered “walking” just like listening to an audiobook is considered “reading” for visually impaired people.
Basically it accepts the whatever means you get to the end product as being a synonyms with the verbs those used by abled people.
Learned this from my librarian buddies.
In most of America you can’t walk to the store even if you don’t use a wheelchair. At my old place I could see a grocery store from my house, but it was on the other side of a limited access road, I had to go 1.5miles to a pedestrian overpass to be able to get to it making it a 6 mile walk to get 100 yards.
To be fair a good chunk of the buildings in Europe are older than america.
New builds tend to take differently able people in mind these days
Europe doesn’t set all the rules at the EU level, this type of thing was probably law in many EU countries before it was law at the EU level.
Hey now, the ADA is one of the few things we’ve got going for us
And all it took was paraplegics crawling up the steps of the capitol in protest.
Is… is that actually what happened? My younger self might have assumed you were exaggerating, but my current self has seen too much to assume anything.
Yep, it happened. Scroll up a bit and you’ll see evangelicals opposed the ADA because it included protections for people with HIV.
It always pisses my wife off when I park in a “handicapped” spot that is really just an old spot with badly faded paint.
For a handicapped parking spot to actually be a handicapped parking spot, you need both the pavement painting and the sign.
I would like to note that the spots I’m talking about aren’t even the ones close to the building (which is probably why they took down the sign), and there are actual spots closer to the door.
Hey there, sometimes-wheelchair-user here. Afaik the law is also the same where I live, the spot has to have a sign. Here, when there’s a spot with just faded paint, it usually just means that the handicap spot got moved somewhere else. The only thing I’d suggest is if you don’t already, just check and make sure that there is a spot somewhere else that does have a sign. If there isn’t, it’s probably because the owner just didn’t mark the spot properly. In that case, it’s best to leave it open for those who need it, even though it wouldn’t technically be against the law to park there.
I’m not accusing you of anything, just putting this out there in case the situation comes up. Cheers!
Idk, man. Finland has been posting some Ls recently. The Orpo Cabinet is all about those tax cuts, business-friendly deregulations, big new military spending budgets, and tighter restrictions on immigration.
Basically doing Reaganism, Finnish style.
big new military spending budgets
Considering what is going on, that’s an L?
tighter restrictions on immigration.
Ditto
Ditto
Sort of the joke in all this. Drop a few bombs. Create a bunch of new refugees. Then close your borders.
Actually, America is one of the most disabled-friendly country in the world when it comes to access struggles like wheelchair ramps and elevators
Joke’s on you, they’re just spreading some flavour on all of the snow and it’s all salty licorice.