Economic Valuation and the Ranking of Humans
Society, and the population as a whole, enact a ranking system every day, all the time. This ranking system is a valuation system that ranks humans by their corresponding value. Their value is derived from how well they participate in society. How well they participate in society is derived by how much profit they produce.
However, the profit produced is not how much profit they produce within an infinite amount of system possibilities. The system is set. The profit is produced within this set system. This set system is a capitalist economy which establishes profit first; profit to drive every other factor. Therefore, the system we are judged by is a system that was formed by profit first, then unfolds all other functions from this underlying principle.
“Does the structure of our profit driven economy create the basis for the exclusion that those with limited mobility experience within society?”
This type of ranking system did not begin with mankind. It began with colonization. In order to conquer over a person, colonizers had to establish a disconnect from the human and a constant refocusing to profit-first systems. Set systems were put into place all over the world. Beforehand, systems were alive, adaptable, and flexible given the geographic location and specific population. All contributions were accepted and honored as value. People were placed in roles that were supportive to them and their bodies.
Afterward, systems were concrete and set, a generic one size fits all. This type of system is what rules today. It is this ranking system that is the reason why those with limited mobility are excluded. It is the reason why society has ranked and assigned value based on how much profit one contributes. Colonization established many profit centric systems that valued profit over human life and systems that we still follow today.
In this series...
I’m studying those with limited mobility in relation to the profit driven economy because I want to find out whether the design of the market creates social isolation and a devaluation, in economic terms, of those with limited mobility in society as a whole. Does the structure of our profit driven economy create the basis for the exclusion that those with limited mobility experience within society?
Assigning value to people began within the workplace, the value assigned was based on how much they produced. That value judgment then became justified with the argument that some genes are stronger than others and the weaker genes should die off. All of this goes into society's preconceived notions about those with disabilities.
In this series, I will provide a brief history of types of economies and review the literature within disability studies and economics.
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