Thursday, April 17, 2008

On whether Robert Latimer is oppressed

From what I understand, Robert Latimer owned a farm which would make him a peasant (petty-bourgeois) since he owned land he would not be a landless peasant but either the middle or upper stratum of the peasantry (I don't know how much land he owned). I think the petty-bourgeoisie could be considered oppressed. I think landless peasants would be the most oppressed peasants. He is white (not oppressed), he is male (not oppressed), from what I understand he is heterosexual (not oppressed). I am not aware of him being of a minority of any stripe.

In terms of Latimer killing his daughter, I don't think Latimer is oppressed. I earlier compared the killing of Tracy Latimer to "honour killing". "Honour killing" from what I understand has taken place in the Muslim community and I think the Sikh community. On the one hand, Muslims and Sikhs are the victims of oppression but then again so are women, the victims of "honour killings". The fact that Muslims and Sikhs are oppressed, which they clearly are, doesn't mean that "honour killings" aren't barbaric.

Reflections on the Tracy Latimer Case

I think if I gave the impression that Robert Latimer was a fascist that it was inaccurate since he has never called for the decimation of the Proletariat. Bigotry isn't necessarily fascist. One thing about the Holocaust is the goal was to wipe entire peoples off the face of the earth. This is different from a single act of bigotry like the killing of Matthew Shepard or the killing of Gwen Araujuo it is not merely an act of genocide.

In terms of "mercy killings" (involuntary "euthanising" of the disabled and other oppressed people). This has been advocated by Eugenecists and the Third Reich. Again, I should probably, there is no evidence that Robert Latimer is a fascist since fascists are for decimating the working class (which Latimer hasn't called for). In terms of whether not Latimer is support the extermiting of the disabled, I haven't yet confirmed but have heard that Robert Latimer is lobbying the government to legalize "mercy killings" (i.e. the killing of the disabled).

I terms of whether Robert Latimer's action were an act of bigotry. With Robert Latimer and his supporters and likely with Robert Latimer himself they don't seem to make a distinction between "relieving someone in pain" and killing someone with a disability. Many of his supporters including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) will say things like "he did what he did to relieve Tracy of her pain (she had severe cerebral palsy)" or they justify what Latimer killing Tracy without consent on the grounds that she had a low IQ or has the mind of a 3 month old child. The fact that someone has a low IQ doesn't make killing them any more exceptable. This same society that to a large extent is sympathetic to Robert Latimer is also a society deeply bigoted towards the disabled. Whenever someone non-disabled is killed by their parents their is outrage yet when a parent kills their disabled child there can often by public sympathy. And not all bigots are as openly bigoted. Many opponents of affirmative action say they are "fighting for equal opportunity". The are white racists who claim to be fighting for "civil rights and self-determination for white people".

In terms of a number of Robert Latimer's being white people with shaved head. Historically, from what I understand, white people with shaved heads has been associated with outright fascists. I should have pointed out that there are some white people with shaved heads her aren't fascist. I think, however, if white guys with shaved heads are rallying around a person who killed someone with a disability I don't think this should be ignored. He also has a prominent supporter who claims the US is a puppet for Israel.

In terms of Tracy feeling nothing but pain, this I think is highly inaccurate. According to the Toronto Star, "Tracy Latimer is remembered by her schoolteachers as a girl who loved music. They also remember her smile." There were points were she felt great pain mind you. Many people with Tracy's condition, however, choose to go on living. Cerebral palsy is also treatable, in fact Robert Latimer was opposed to giving Tracy hip surgery saying that "it was mutilation and that it wouldn't cure Tracy". He also refused to give Tracy a permanent institutional place a respite home. The Toronto Star pointed out "critics say other people who take anti-convulsing medication do find compatible pain relief".

In terms of whether or not the killing of Tracy Latimer has led to more killing of the disabled, according to Ragged Edge Magazine:

"Between 1990 and 1994, the average number of Canadian murder cases in which parents killed their children was 34 for each year, according to University of Alberta psychology professor Dick Sobsey.

Between 1994 and 1998, the average rate was 49, with 62 cases in 1997 alone.

Why the increase in what Sobsey calls "altruistic filicide", the killing of a child out of the belief that death is in the child's best interest?

Sobsey, the head of J.P. Das Developmental Disabilities Centre, points to the 1993 murder of Tracy Latimer, and the media coverage surrounding her death and her murderer's court trials.

"After 1994, we saw a big increase in the number of parents killing their children in Canada," Sobsey said.

It goes on to say:
"The case has become a focal point of a debate between disability rights advocates who see Tracy's death as one of countless examples of extreme abuse upon people with disabilities, and people who believe that "mercy killing" is justified when the victim has a severe disability. Most on both sides agree, however, that the media and public sentiment favors Robert Latimer."

In terms

My sources:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/h-euthanasia.htm The History Place - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/ Eugenics Archive - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://www.dnai.org/e/index.html DNA Interactive - Talks about "Mercy Killings"
http://dawn.thot.net/Tracy_Latimer.html DisAbled Women's Action Network - On Tracy Latimer not feeling "nothing but pain"
http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/309347 The Toronto Star - Talks about Tracy Latimer feeling more than just pain
http://www.ragged-edge-mag.com/drn/latimer0402.html Ragged Edge Magazine - Sympathy for Robert Latimer link to increase in child murders

An Anti-Semite who Supports Robert Latimer (The "Free Robert Latimer!" Group had a link to him)

One person that the Free Robert Latimer group has as a supporter is a man named Greg Felton who also wrote a book claiming the United States of America is a puppet for Israel which has been a slander made by, I believe, the Militia of the 1990s (a movement of Right-Wing Paramilitaries, which is affiliated to outright fascists like the KKK) as well as outright fascists like the Neo-Nazis.

Demands I Think You Should Have on the Disability Question

1) Abolish all state-funding for the Lovaas Treatment, IBI Treatment and ABA Treatment!

2) Abolish all state-funding for the Autism Society and all "Cure Autism" groups! Abolish all groups advocating the supremacy of neurotypicals.

3) Abolish the Judge Rotenburg "Educational Centre"!

4) Mobilize Labour to Smash the Free Robert Latimer Movement!

5) Labour must oppose "mercy killings" of the disabled and the oppressed!

6) Labour must oppose must solidarize with all disabled and oppressed people who fall victim to "mercy killings"!

7) Defend welfare, public healthcare and government funded vocational services from government cuts!

Note: "Mercy Killings" are fundamentally different from Euthanasia.

A Hue and Cry for a Witchhunt against the Disabled: The Bourgeois Presses Support for Robert Latimer

Dear Spartacist Canada/Workers' Vanguard/PDC,

The bourgeois press for the most part has been favouring Robert Latimer against the disabled in the case of him lynching his disabled daughter. This has had a bandwagon effect on the majority of society. The majority of Canadian bourgeois society favours Robert Latimer. And like I have said before "mercy killing" which Robert Latimer calls his actions has been proven by history to be a rallying cry for fascist terror and genocide against the oppressed. Hitler described the killing of people in the concentration camps during the 'Final Solution' as "mercy killings". Eugenecists used the term to describe the involuntary "euthanizing" of the disabled as well as other oppressed people.

I believe the bourgeois press's support could be paving the way possibly for a witchhunt against the disabled. Often, from what I understand, the bourgeois press will be sure to whipped up hysteria when preparing for a witchhunt, bolstering the state, going to war etc. The bourgeois press whipped hysteria about "Satanic Ritual Abuse" to whip up the anti-sex hysteria, the third great witchhunt. The bourgeois press whipped up hysteria about "weapons of mass destruction" before going to war with Iraq. The bourgeois press whipped up hysteria about "terrorism" before curtailing civil liberties. The beorgeois press today is whipping up hysteria today to pave the way for possible wars on China, North Korea and Iran. I think too the beorgeois press is whipping up bigotry towards the disabled and sympathy for Robert Latimer possibly to pave the way for genocide or witchhunt or the like against the disabled.

Comradely,
M.G.

What I think you stances should be on the Abortion, Euthanasia and "Mercy Killings"

1) I think that you are right to call for 'Free Abortion on Demand'. The reason being fetuses are not scientifically human since they are not yet living outside and physically part of the women's body.

2) I think that you are right in supporting Voluntary Euthanasia (especially the terminally ill). The reason being that it is a personal choice.
3) I think that you had the right stance on the Terry Schiavo case since Schiavo is brain-dead. The Terry Shiavo incident was technically not a homocide

4) I think that you should unconditionaly oppose "mercy killings" (involuntary "euthanasia"). The reason being that "mercy killing" has historically been a rallying cry for fascist terror and genocide against the oppressed. "Mercy Killing" was advocated by Eugenicists as well as the Nazis in Germany (Hitler used the very term "mercy killing" in reference to the Final Solution). "Mercy Killing" today has been used today as a pretext to kill the disabled (eg. The lynching of Tracy Latimer at the hands of her fascistic yahoo of a father Robert Latimer).

5) If someone is not terminally ill or brain-dead and there is evidence of them requesting to or consenting to have their life being terminated then, in my opinion, it is not a case of euthanasia.

6) Groups that support the "mercy killing" of disabled as well as the 'Free Robert Latimer', I think, should in most cases be labeled as fascistic (unless there is evidence of them physically attacking the working class, in which I think that they should be labed fascist). If these groups were to rally it should be dealt with the way you deal with KKK, Neo-Nazi, Skinhead or Minutemen rallies. If these people speak at a forum they should be dealt with they way you deal with the Minutemen or right-wing bigots like Horowitz when they speak at a forum.

7) Since "mercy killing" has been historically advocated by fascists and many of Robert Latimer's supporter (at least on facebook probably in the real world too) are white people with shaved heads, I think it can be assumed that the Free Robert Latimer Movement contains within it the embryo of fascism.

More Information on Tracy Latimer

http://www.ccdonline.ca/publications/latimer-watch/1298d.htm Council of Canadians with Disabilities: Publications: Latimer Watch
Article by a Fascistic Bigot Arthur Schafer from Manitoba who supports legalizing the lynching of the disabled (his article really plays on emotions):