Crippen Cartoons cartoons at the cutting edge of disability

For a while now I’ve had a cartoon in the back of my head about Cameron and his taste in bedtime reading. I’ve imagined him reading books by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, both of whom wrote of futuristic worlds where people are cloned and programmed to accept their designated place in society; upholding the status quo and not challenging the ‘news’ that originated through government approved media sources, etc.

I’ve also been trying to get a handle on Cameron’s ‘big society’ and what he really means whenever he refers to this concept.

Can you see where I’m going with this …?!

Despite being told by his own spin doctors that this blinkered belief in the concept is reducing his popularity ratings still further, he continues to bang the ‘big society’ drum, not appearing to care if no one else is marching along behind him. It’s as though only he (and this is where my earlier references to Huxley and Orwell start to weave their way into my thoughts) has a complete understanding of the concept and knows exactly where he’s going with it.

My suspicions start to grow when other government originated changes start to appear. Such as the attempts to complete reverse the direction in which disabled people have been struggling over the past several decades. Apart from the proposed cuts to benefits and other assistance packages that will mean that fewer disabled people will be able to survive within the community; other, less overt changes are being introduced.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog entitled ‘Wolves in more sheep’s clothing’ there is talk about the money that people give to charity (that would currently be accessible to groups ‘of’ disabled people) only being available to those charities ‘for’ that represent the various impairment groups. These same charities would also be expected to use this money to provide those services that are being cut from the existing social and health care provision for disabled people.

In effect, the control of disabled people would be returned to those very organisations that originally conspired with society to keep disabled children within ‘special’ homes and schools, and kept disabled people generally off the streets – out of sight being out of mind. It also means that the social model of disability, which identifies that it is the barriers in society that disable us, will be replaced once again by the charitable/medical models that ‘blame’ and segregate disabled people. We’re being tidied away, with Cameron and his cronies reshaping society in the process.

But Cameron is not just stopping at disabled people and those others who rely on benefits due to lack of work, low income or other social circumstances. In a recent speech he clearly supported the racist rhetoric of the far right and targeted people who have a ‘different’ ethnic background, blaming them for the alleged increase in terrorism and crime in the country. Again, none of this is based upon reality, but appears to be yet another step in his ‘big society’ plans.

So, for ‘big society’ we should perhaps read ‘big Conservative society’ where everyone is white and non-disabled, well off, looks the same, thinks the same, and who also knows their place and are content to be ruled by their masters.