SURRENDER TO LOVE

SUB-MINIMUM WAGE 3

Yes, there is bigotry, no doubt about it. Its been there so long that I had begun to accept it and might not even have written about it.

The revelation that inspired me to write about it was my sudden realization that it’s being driven by psychological denial, especially in people who have experienced taunting and abuse or are afraid of same by virtue of having been called “retard” or having felt insulted at being lumped in with people with little intellectual development. Their parents and guardians too.

I think its being fueled by old pain and fear, based partly from personal experience and partly from horror stories that may actually have historical basis. . That’s why rational information makes no impact. Its like trying to talk someone out of a neurosis, only this is closer to a  collective neurosis.

There was a time when residential habilitation centers weren’t called that; they were basically maintenance warehouses for people for whom society had no use or hope; and they contained a great many people whose mental abilities were high enough that having to fit into an institutional mold was probably unbearable. Add to that the fact that there was little regulation. Abuse really did happen with impunity. 

Now, my new questions are: “Can recognizing the quality of the underlying fears inspire a new approach that will help resolve the bigotry?” If so, what?

May whatever happens next be born of love. 

I surrender to love.  I surrender to love.  I surrender to love.