I'd never heard the term "Demublicrat" before. Your last post seemed almost like a rant - albeit a perfectly justified one - but this, in my opinion, is much more profound and concise.
I recently wrote a short piece for Facebook. It outlines a similar situation - the mental health debate. In this case, the difference is that neither side appears to secretly share anything in common. I post it only because it reminds me of our political system.
My name is Marvin Haines, and I turned 17 several weeks ago.
At the age of 15, I was diagnosed with ASD. My family was surprised – they had never truly considered the possibility of me being on the Spectrum. I was certainly a social wreck, but they attributed that to anxiety.
Recently, I joined several Facebook groups dedicated to understanding autism. I expected to meet other people on the Spectrum – people who talked with insight and reason, with whom I could share thoughtful conversations on the subject and learn more about myself.
What I found instead was disheartening, to say the least.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, the “autistic community” is irreversibly split into two parties of an almost religious nature who define themselves by their hatred of the other.
The two camps are divided over what seems – at least to any outsider – to be a ridiculously simple matter: how autism should be treated, or if it should be treated at all. One camp claims to be the progressive truth-holders, while the other labels itself as a kind of resistance – a resistance against the perceived radicalism of the first camp.
As I soon discovered, the fire and fury doesn’t end there. No, it gets worse and worse, degrading to the level of – wait for it – a semantic argument! Certain words or phrases deemed offensive in one group have become the accepted jargon of the other. To take one example, the phrase has autism, which is quickly becoming taboo in the more progressive group, has been lovingly embraced by the resistance. And don’t get me started on the controversies surrounding the organization and slogan “Autism Speaks.” It is a hot mess.
All this is to say that I am thoroughly disappointed by the state of the autism population today. I don’t claim to be a member of either camp – I find them both distasteful and their ideas ill-conceived – but one thing I know for certain is that if we want our voices heard, we’d better damn well learn to talk with civility. Otherwise, the neurotypical world will continue to fail us, as they have countless times before.
Hang in there. Some seek comfort in conformity; for others conformity is like a prison.
Some refuse to think, preferring, rather, to believe. Nothing wrong with believing. I believe in God, but that does not excuse from the responsibility of thinking. And thinking, when you THINK about it, is a form of doubt. Some people simply can't handle doubt. But doubt is the tip of the branch, from which grow the new buds that replenish your mind and your soul, and from which you grow.
Genius cartoon and genius article!
I'd never heard the term "Demublicrat" before. Your last post seemed almost like a rant - albeit a perfectly justified one - but this, in my opinion, is much more profound and concise.
I recently wrote a short piece for Facebook. It outlines a similar situation - the mental health debate. In this case, the difference is that neither side appears to secretly share anything in common. I post it only because it reminds me of our political system.
Here it is:
____________________________________________________________________________
My name is Marvin Haines, and I turned 17 several weeks ago.
At the age of 15, I was diagnosed with ASD. My family was surprised – they had never truly considered the possibility of me being on the Spectrum. I was certainly a social wreck, but they attributed that to anxiety.
Recently, I joined several Facebook groups dedicated to understanding autism. I expected to meet other people on the Spectrum – people who talked with insight and reason, with whom I could share thoughtful conversations on the subject and learn more about myself.
What I found instead was disheartening, to say the least.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, the “autistic community” is irreversibly split into two parties of an almost religious nature who define themselves by their hatred of the other.
The two camps are divided over what seems – at least to any outsider – to be a ridiculously simple matter: how autism should be treated, or if it should be treated at all. One camp claims to be the progressive truth-holders, while the other labels itself as a kind of resistance – a resistance against the perceived radicalism of the first camp.
As I soon discovered, the fire and fury doesn’t end there. No, it gets worse and worse, degrading to the level of – wait for it – a semantic argument! Certain words or phrases deemed offensive in one group have become the accepted jargon of the other. To take one example, the phrase has autism, which is quickly becoming taboo in the more progressive group, has been lovingly embraced by the resistance. And don’t get me started on the controversies surrounding the organization and slogan “Autism Speaks.” It is a hot mess.
All this is to say that I am thoroughly disappointed by the state of the autism population today. I don’t claim to be a member of either camp – I find them both distasteful and their ideas ill-conceived – but one thing I know for certain is that if we want our voices heard, we’d better damn well learn to talk with civility. Otherwise, the neurotypical world will continue to fail us, as they have countless times before.
I invented "Demublicrat".
Hang in there. Some seek comfort in conformity; for others conformity is like a prison.
Some refuse to think, preferring, rather, to believe. Nothing wrong with believing. I believe in God, but that does not excuse from the responsibility of thinking. And thinking, when you THINK about it, is a form of doubt. Some people simply can't handle doubt. But doubt is the tip of the branch, from which grow the new buds that replenish your mind and your soul, and from which you grow.