Ashamed

We think of culture as fairly stable almost static. It's not.

Seth observed the other day:

Society changes when we change what we're embarrassed about.
In just fifty years, we've made it shameful to be publicly racist.
In just ten years, someone who professes to not know how to use the internet is seen as a fool.
The question, then, is how long before we will be ashamed at being uninformed, at spouting pseudoscience, at believing thin propaganda? How long before it's unacceptable to take something at face value? How long before you can do your job without understanding the state of the art?

In 10 years I want people to be ashamed to not know what accessibility is and how to achieve it.  Universal design will be the standard and the need for accommodation rare. It'll just be how we do business and education. People will be ashamed to see disability as "inspiring" and be a aghast at telethons for Jerry's Kids and see that they're inspiring fear.  People with disabilities will be people first regardless of their abilities.    You'll no longer hear about "schizophrenic policies" or people described by their illness. 

We can look back and be amazed at how things have changed, or look forward  to how we're going to change them.   

Don't know what I'm talking about?  You will.

Image James Stringer