3/19/25 - Mental health farms, eugenics, and photography
One slightly older piece, one newer, and an arts break today.
RFK's plan to make America healthy again? Send people with mental health conditions to farms
Amanda Marcotte, Salon.com - February 19, 2025
"Kennedy has long had it out for these drugs, and repeatedly argues that the only prevention most people need is better willpower. Kennedy occasionally tosses a red herring about 'environmental' causes of illness, but mostly he frames the issue as a matter of personal failing, focusing on people's diets and exercise habits as the 'root causes' of nearly all illnesses. He regards anti-depressants as an 'addictive drug,' falsely claiming people have 'a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than they have getting off of heroin.'"
The labor farm model of "treating" mental illness is terrible enough. But even if it never actually happens, it's important for disability communities to fully understand where RFK, Jr. is coming from. That's because his take on illness and yes, on disability in general, undermines most of the ways people with disabilities in the U.S. understand and adapt to our conditions. If we are held responsible not just for our lives in general – at least an arguable idea – but for our actual disabilities, then what's the point of providing us with support, accommodations, and accessibility. This is an especially scary idea at a time when the political taste for budget-cutting and ignoring the needs of marginalized people is at an all-time high. And part of the challenge is that this sort of "wellness" talk can be quite sincerely appealing, particularly to people with disabilities and chronic illnesses who have had bad experiences with traditional medicine and rehabilitation. RFK, Jr. and his Department of Health and Human Services isn't in the headlines quite as much as other aspects of the Trump administration. But it needs watching.
The Eugenics Logic Behind Running a Government Like a Startup Under the Trump Administration
Valerie Black, Disability Visibility Project - March 17, 2025
"For disabled folks, being hailed as “wasteful” is the oldest play in the book. It’s the ever-present throughline of ableism: the capacity for someone who isn’t you to determine whether or not the value of your life exceeds the value of the resources that sustain your life. In other words: if the powers that be decide to evaluate your right to exist and determine that you fail to offer a suitable return on value, then you will be branded a burden."
It may not be clear to everyone how the word "eugenics" applies to such a broad range of disability issues and political ideologies. There's a narrow definition of eugenics – focused on a few very specific initiatives in the early 20th century around controlling who can have children, and ultimately who can be allowed to live, based on notions of genetic suitability. But there's broader sense, explained and demonstrated very well in this article, in which eugenics is about how people are valued in a society and then treated officially – through combinations of legal restrictions and denial of legal protection, withdrawal of financial support, and encouraging social attitudes through forcibly turning back the clock on the language of disability, gender, and race. And it's important to note that some of the seemingly positive arguments we make about ourselves can feed into these attitudes and forces. When we argue in favor of disability rights laws and other supports by promising that they will get more of us into the workforce, we aren't exactly wrong. But we should also think about how highlighting our "value" this way can come back and bite us. It seems to be biting us right now.
Here are 8 photography winners with disabilities who show the world their perspective
Charu Bahri, National Public Radio - March 15, 2025
"'Persons with disabilities not only narrate stories differently because of their lived experiences, but they also have access to stories beyond the reach of non-disabled individuals,' says Vicky Roy, an eminent photographer and one of this year's judges. He was searching for photos that tell a story and have a strong emotional impact, while also standing out for their composition, creativity, originality, subject, timing and lighting."
These are some truly stunning photographs. And when you read a bit about the photographers, you really can tell how their disabilities influence their art.
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