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Home Front: Culture Wars
National Federation of the Blind tell judge to STFU over money
2006-12-14

U.S. District Judge James Robertson was wrong when he ruled that U.S. paper currency discriminates against blind people.

Discrimination occurs when someone is barred from enjoying benefits, goods or services. African-Americans experienced discrimination when they were barred from eating at lunch counters or forced to sit at the back of public buses.

Blind people are not barred from spending money. When we hand merchants our money, they take it and provide us with what we have paid for. People with whom we transact business provide us with correct change, and we then fold or organize the money so that we can identify it in the future.

We transact business in this way successfully every day. The cost to society in changing machines that accept currency, such as vending machines and ATMs, will be much greater than the small convenience afforded to the blind by being able to identify money by touch.

Changes that make paper money more easily identifiable might be desirable to everyone who handles money. But the money should not be changed solely on account of the blind. We do not need such a dramatic change to accommodate us.

Changing the currency only for the sake of the blind implies that we can't look out for our own best interests and are generally helpless and incompetent. If society believes we walk around not knowing how much money is in our pockets, it might also believe that we are not competent to work and do business with others. Such beliefs would make our goal of full integration into society virtually impossible.

The blind are a minority. Though it is crucial that minorities have a voice in society, it is also the responsibility of every minority to use that voice wisely and not to cry discrimination when no discrimination has occurred. The blind of America will fight discrimination wherever we find it, but we will not do so by falsely portraying ourselves as victims and engaging in frivolous litigation.

Marc Maurer is president of the 50,000-member National Federation of the Blind. (The
Treasury Department declined to provide an opposing view to this editorial.)

AMEN!! Thank you!!
Posted by:DarthVader

#15  Weirdly enough, Chinese paper currency includes some Braille (via raised print), so that blind people can make out how much money they're handling. The irony is that this would seem to imply the blind are more likely to be able to detect fakes, since counterfeit currency, however good, is less likely to include this feature.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2006-12-14 20:35  

#14  Though it is crucial that minorities have a voice in society, it is also the responsibility of every minority to use that voice wisely and not to cry discrimination when no discrimination has occurred.

Very well said. Now, would someone please hammer this into the skulls of all American Muslims?

Suffice it say that legal strategies are being developed and honed to such an extent that, within the near future, in the event a muslim cab driver gets so uppity as to deny service to a blind person with a seeing eye dog, said cab driver will be made to regret the day he attempted to impose his alien culture on a blind American accompanied by a seeing eye dog.

First offense: Massive fine, something like $1,000.

Second offense: Suspension of taxi license for one month. Owner operated taxis should be grounded or impounded to prevent use by anyone else during the period of suspension.

Third offense: Permanent revocation of taxi medallion and commercial license.

It shouldn't be too hard to set up a canine squad for undercover operations aimed at nailing these un-American bastards. This a form of creeping Islamization that needs to be stomped on hard and vigorously. Think flamenco dancing.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-12-14 19:52  

#13  I had a enlightening experience with one of those blind convenience store persons years ago, I bought a Coke and when he gave me my change there was a $5 where a one should have been.

I told him it was a 5 and gave it back, he gave me the correct dollar bill and said "Damn them"
I said " Folks giving you ones and telling you they're fives?" "No dammit" He said, "they're giving me fives and telling me they're ones."
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-12-14 19:08  

#12  I know the blind have sharpened other senses, but do they know something about money we don't ?
If so, I hope they keep it to themselves.
I wonder how they do with counterfeit bills.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-12-14 18:00  

#11  An interesting study that won't be made should compare Moslem immigrants in the US against ethnic immigrants to the US, as far as their "rate" of assimilation.

That is, first generation immigrants usually blend in fairly well. Second generation are neither here nor there and tend to be troublesome, such as creating organized crime gangs. Third generation are mostly assimilated, with a few bumps, and have mostly forgotten the old country.

I wouldn't be surprised if in a relatively short time, we start seeing a new version of Islam arise in the US, that will be far more like Sufism than Wahabbism. That is, a "protestant" version of Islam that embraces middle-class values, peacefulness, and is generally polite.

It will really get going when some Sufi madrassas get built, to turn out Imams that US Moslems would be more comfortable with than Islamists. This is critical, because of lot of the US mosques are uncomfortable with their radical Imams, but they are the only Imams they can get.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-12-14 15:07  

#10  A-moose: Without realizing it you've just described every muslim enclave in the West. Muslim = insular. An insularity that will remain unchanged unless they assimilate with us for I have no desire to assimilate with them.

I know good folk from both the blind and the deaf communities. For reasons not entirely clear to me, the deaf do in fact seem more "clanish" and "tribal". Far moreso than the blind. I don't know why this is but it's true from my experince.



Posted by: Mark Z   2006-12-14 14:37  

#9  As an aside, it is culturally interesting how blind and deaf organizations over time become insular. That is, their members become so used to interaction only with those who share their handicap that they develop an "us and them" attitude with everybody else.

Especially with the deaf, there have even been a few instances when couples intended to have deaf children, so that "they would belong".

But in either case, it would not be surprising if eventually they built communities completely tailored to their disability, for maximum comfort.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2006-12-14 14:08  

#8  Mark Z:

I'd imagine that the populace as a whole would be in a tizzie over that sort of typical Muzzie action. You just don't mess with a man and his dog, much less a BLIND man and his seeing-eye dog. Like child predators in prison, there's just some things you do NOT do.
Posted by: BA   2006-12-14 13:39  

#7  National Federation of the Blind tell judge to STFU over money

heh they got the right stuff...try volunteering for them sometime.
:-)
Posted by: RD   2006-12-14 12:17  

#6  I'm acquainted with someone who knows Mr. Mauer personally and professionally. I'm advised he is a gentleman and patriot of the first order in the classic mold of "no better friend, no worst enemy". I've been given to understand Mr. Mauer finds the currency issue to be a minor distraction at worst.

The same cannot be said , however, of the issue of muslim cab drivers refusing service to the blind accompanied by seeing eye dogs. I'm advised Mr. Mauer, together with his organization - the Natioanl Federation of the Blind (NFB)- have adopted a somewhat less tolerant attitude toward those who benefit financially from holding a public license but refuse to provide service to all of the public on a non-discriminatory basis.

For many of the blind, a seeing eye dog is an extension of themselves. The relationship between master and dog is symbiotic. The dog would take a bullet for it's master. The master would take a bullet for the dog. We should all be so fortunate to have such a relationship in our lifetime. But I digress.

Suffice it say that legal strategies are being developed and honed to such an extent that, within the near future, in the event a muslim cab driver gets so uppity as to deny service to a blind person with a seeing eye dog, said cab driver will be made to regret the day he attempted to impose his alien culture on a blind American accompanied by a seeing eye dog.

Wait for it. It's coming. It's gratifying to know that some Americans are preparing to push back against the muslim on-slaught.

Posted by: Mark Z   2006-12-14 12:11  

#5  That's not very progressive of them...
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-12-14 11:12  

#4  Well said. It's nice to see a group not playing the victim card, even when they are actually entitled to to some extent.

I imagine the blind are using their plastic more and more anyway.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2006-12-14 11:00  

#3  (The
Treasury Department declined to provide an opposing view to this editorial.)

WTF?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2006-12-14 10:51  

#2  When I was an intern at the Medical College of Viriginia hospital, there was a blind man who ran the snack shop on the first floor of the old building. He too handled money perfectly in the same way. He also knew every item being sold there and could reach for any food item, bag it, ring it up, handle the money, and chat you up at the same time. Delightful fellow.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-12-14 10:49  

#1  Yes, thank you for driving another nail in the coffin of the Victim Mentality(tm).

personal story: We have 2 blind employees here in our Fed. Gov't building that run the 2 snack bars. One's black and one's Indian and they transact business every single day exactly how Mr. Maurer describes (Paper money is folded in differing ways depending on if it's a $1, $5, $10 or $20 bill). Coins are no problem already (differing sizes, weights, and ridging on the sides). Some of the most down-to-earth, hard working guys I know of (I know, I know, it's a Fed. Gov't building for all you snarkers out there, so it's not hard to spot real work, lol).
Posted by: BA   2006-12-14 10:38  

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