Date Line June 11, 2007

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 150 8-year-old children are on the "autism spectrum." Prior to the 1990's, the frequency of autism was estimated to be in the range of 1 per 2,000 to 5,000.

Those are the basic facts. More facts are that this period of change coincides with the rise of the Right-wing Conservatives. Is there some causal relation, or is it just coincidence?

Is it coincidence that a group which is opposed to science and the propagation of knowledge; a group argues the magic of Creationism over the scientifically consistent explanation of evolution as the tool of divine design; and both education, and the ability to be educated suffers?

The doctrine of "the most harm to the most people," is inherent in everything supported, or opposed, by Right-wing fundamentalism.

Why is there an autism epidemic here, in America, and not around the world? Why here and not throughout the industrialized world? Why is it in the only industrialized nation where opposition to socialized medicine is the specific agenda of one of the nations most organized and powerful groups?

Why is the autism epidemic showing up now? Why is there no link to pollution? Pollution is universal in the industrialized world, and it is far worse in the third world which we plunder for resources.

Why is the autism epidemic showing up now? Why is there no link to an increase in autism among nations where everyone has healthcare? Why no epidemic of physical damage in nations where anyone, and everyone, can walk-in and be treated without fear of the ultimate cost?

The key to Autism is in the traits which characterize it; these are very severe impairments in social interaction, impairments of language and communicative abilities, and they are combined with the presence of unusual repetitious behaviors.

Fundamentalists, or, more precisely, those who follow fundamentalist leaders, have an interesting set of traits: the lack wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Followers of the Right-wing do not see beyond what they are told they should see. They do not see the reality of the actions done in their name, or which they are authorizing.

Who follows the Right-wing Fundamentalist policies? Who are the Bush followers and supporters? Are they not those Bush himself said were his constituents: The rich and richer?

And who makes these people who they are? Are they the illiterates (here in Washington County, a good Red zone, that rate is 23 percent), and those who cannot think; those who cannot follow the course of an action to its logical conclusion prior to engaging in that action.

Sometimes it is simple stuff. Have you ever considered that we spend far more money trying to disqualify people from help than we do on actually helping them?

Most Human Services cases involve multiple people, multiple agents, who review the qualifications for benefits; this is then followed by a whole judicial system designed to screw the people out of benefits on appeal.

Yet, it is well known that, when applying for disability, 90 percent will be rejected, but upon administrative review, a sizable percentage of rejections are reversed; if not, there is a judicial review which, if managed by an attorney, will result in reversal.

Note the attorney is needed. The process is not intended to help the disabled; rather it is an employment program for attorneys.

Consider the alternative: Everyone gets medical care; everyone gets a basic allowance for housing (you get that as an exclusion value on your property tax bill, or through some other program of accounting entries designed to make work for unnecessary bureaucrats); everyone gets a food card which they can deposit money to and which gets a minimal common deposit monthly (an EBT card for all).

Sounds expensive. But the reality is it is cheap. All of it can be done by computer and the agents needed are those auditors who seek out anyone who double dips or uses the ID of the dead. Make it taxable and we have IRS auditor computers doing the necessary work.

There is actually a tax savings to all. Such a program would eliminate many programs designed to either fight for these benefits, or to actually provide them while the fight is going on. But that would involve honesty, logic, and the simple ability to think. That would require a culture which does not seek impose the most harm to the most people.

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