Friday, October 31, 2008

Australian Government to Residents with Down Syndrome: Get Out, You Cost Too Much

It’s spreading like wildfire. Every continent, almost every country.

Discrimination against people with Down Syndrome, that is.

If you don’t think we’re back to Useless Eaters, you’re wrong.

Just plain old wrong.

Useless Eaters is the term the Nazis used for people who were in some way disabled and who therefore couldn’t contribute to the economy. If you consume more resources than you can produce, we need to dispose of you. Just an economic decision, that’s all. Nothing personal, you understand, it’s just that we need to use our finite resources for people who will produce. 

You are using too many of our resources. You are not producing. Goodbye.

Now, eugenic discrimination against people with Down Syndrome is hardly new. We already terminate the vast majority of pregnancies where the genetic disorder is discovered. In that regard, I predict that we’ll soon move on to openly eugenic euthanasia for those who are genetically different and inconveniently alive.

Here’s the latest in Governments Gone Wild:

German-born Dr. Bernard Moeller lives with his family in Australia on a temporary resident visa. He helps reduce the government-acknowledged shortage of physicians. He’s applied for permanent residency.

No can do. Sorry.

Why?

Because his 13-year old son, Lukas, has Down Syndrome.

I kid you not.

Here’s what Australia’s news.com reported:

. . .the Immigration Department has rejected his application for permanent residency because his youngest son, Lukas, 13, does not meet the health requirement.

Health requirement? Not sure what this apparatchik euphemism means?

Here’s what it means:

The Immigration Department wrote to Dr Moeller saying his son had been assessed as a burden on Australian taxpayers and could not be granted permanent residency . . . . A copy of the decision said care for Lukas was "likely to result in significant costs to the Australian community in health care and community services".

Not only is this nakedly eugenic, it’s official, government-sanctioned eugenics.

If you have a disability, you are a burden to the government and to society.

If you have a disability, you are not welcome here.

If you have a disability you cost too much.

If you have a disability go away.

It’s a very short skip from this line of thinking to the Australian versions of Brandenburg, Sonnerstein, Bernburg, Hadamar, Grafeneck, and Hartheim, institutions which cared for people with disabilities and which were turned into the first gas chambers the Nazis ever used.

Australians with disabilities need to be afraid – very afraid. Their government is coming after them using the exact same logic as did the Nazis.

1930s: German useless eaters.

2008: Australian useless eaters.

Coming soon to a country near you.

5 comments:

Tim Spaulding said...
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Tim Spaulding said...
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Anonymous said...

Wow. Very sad state of affairs. Where has the compassion gone?

Dr Mark said...

Darin, thanks. But, to answer your question, there is none. If you are different in ways that cost money, you're out. It's even worse than that - in many places, people will fight for all kinds of rights, but not for the rights of people with disabilities.

Again, be afraid, be very afraid.

Helen said...

Canada was going to refuse admission to a family because they had a disabled child; I'm not sure what happened, there.

In Britain, I'd heard that more babies with Downs Syndrome than ever before were being born - this has to be positive.