The Birth of My Political Conscience
Before the beginning of last year, I really was not a very political person. I did write articles for Ex Uno Plures, and I occasionally collaborated with other system-mates on articles, but I wasn't as invested in political causes as I am now. I wasn't necessarily apathetic, but I wouldn't call myself political, either. My world consisted of my friends and my partners and my studies and my cooking and my books and my music and my graphic design and my art. Nice things. Comfortable things. Politics was something for Richard, Hess, Yavari, Carmen and Darwin to talk about, not me.
Last year, though, Richard and I had randomly been reading Wikipedia articles, and came across an article about the Fernald State School. The Fernald School is a facility in Massachusetts that was designed for people with developmental disabilities (although the terminology was different when it was founded), and was noted for its abuses. We fell asleep soon after we had read the article, and other ones describing that school, and we had a dream (link to Richard's entry about it; access-locked) related to it, and...there was something about that dream that changed my mindset. After that dream, I started reading obsessively about the abuses of the eugenics movement, and branched out to other issues. I know that it may sound a bit silly that a dream had that much influence on me-especially after things happened to this group that should have made me care more-but it did. It struck me in a way that no actual, flesh-and-blood treatment of this system did, for some reason. We've been through a lot. It may attest to the power of dreams, but I don't know. Since then, though, I've found myself immersing myself in human-rights-related politics, and...now I'm probably one of the most politically active members of this group.
How things change.
Last year, though, Richard and I had randomly been reading Wikipedia articles, and came across an article about the Fernald State School. The Fernald School is a facility in Massachusetts that was designed for people with developmental disabilities (although the terminology was different when it was founded), and was noted for its abuses. We fell asleep soon after we had read the article, and other ones describing that school, and we had a dream (link to Richard's entry about it; access-locked) related to it, and...there was something about that dream that changed my mindset. After that dream, I started reading obsessively about the abuses of the eugenics movement, and branched out to other issues. I know that it may sound a bit silly that a dream had that much influence on me-especially after things happened to this group that should have made me care more-but it did. It struck me in a way that no actual, flesh-and-blood treatment of this system did, for some reason. We've been through a lot. It may attest to the power of dreams, but I don't know. Since then, though, I've found myself immersing myself in human-rights-related politics, and...now I'm probably one of the most politically active members of this group.
How things change.