This column has featured many fictional characters during the past three decades. They have been the writer’s device to ease the burden of reading economic information and unpopular ideas.
This week is different. Let me introduce you to Nervous Fergus and his buddy, Harrison. Both dogs live and travel with us.
Nervous Fergus is a 15-pound mix of poodle and Bichon who is easily startled and terrified by fireworks. Harrison is a 60-pound fox hound, a traffic accident survivor with three legs who is a determined adventurer, destroyer of squeaky toys and a food vacuum.
Neither of our friends is dissuaded from seeking the best that is available in their lives. Nor should they be. Their distinct, but not unique, characteristics can be acknowledged and, if necessary, accommodated. (Fergus is given a small sedative in the evenings before July 4.) None in the canine world care about their disabilities or handicaps.
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Our children, grandchildren, relatives, neighbors, friends, co-workers and fellow citizens have similarly distinct, but not unique, characteristics. Some were born with these characteristics. Others acquired them from their earliest influences. Still others acquired or recognized them as they aged and interacted with a discriminating world.
To discern differences is natural and necessary. How we respond to those differences is critically important. Some we take for granted and ignore if we perceive no functional value for them in our society. A mole on the lip (as I have) is not a significant disfigurement, although it has probably prevented my appearance on the covers of several influential magazines.
Lighter or darker skin, place of birth, gender and religion, however, have been major factors in the lives of millions, over centuries, in many societies. Although not labeled a disability or a handicap, these characteristics have been just that in economic and social terms.
Physical and mental differences, genetic or acquired, are sometimes, in some places, dismissed as quirks. At other times and places, they are cause for exclusion, segregation, even execution.
At this point, I can hear the thoughts of some readers, “He’s comparing me with his dogs. My differences, my distinct characteristics are being dismissed and denigrated.”
To which, I reply, “No. I am urging acceptance by those who would dismiss and denigrate us for who we are. Our heritage should not be considered a handicap deserving special treatment. Neither should our life experiences, age, nor place of residence disqualify us from being participants in forging our individual and collective futures.
“Fergus and Harrison get along with each other and our two cats. All four warm quickly to strangers. Shouldn’t people do so as well?”
Morton Marcus is an economist. Reach him at [email protected]. Follow his views and those of John Guy on Who gets what? wherever podcasts are available or at mortonjohn.libsyn.com. Send comments to [email protected].
