November 21, 2011
These were the words of Nabil Shaban, disabled founder of 21-year old theatre company Graeae. And I must admit I do agree with him.
He also talked about the impending war in Iran, how our welfare system would be stronger if we weren’t at war in Iraq and Afghanistan and how at 16 years old when unemployed and writing to theatre companies to try and get work he was told to get lost once they found out he was in a wheelchair.
He wasn’t saying this at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, or camped out at St. Paul’s, but in fact at the third Leonard Cheshire Ability Media awards as he picked up his Fellowship Award. Everyone in the audience were silent and hypnotised throughout his political speech – either shocked by his using such a platform for political purposes or blown away by what he had to say.
For me, I drifted for a split second into a parallel world where all social issues had been fixed and we had a fully functioning global government, business and civil society where it all worked. The System that is – where there’s no more police pepper-spraying students having their say in a democracy or where 50% of UK disabled people don’t have a job. Everyone works now in the perfect world – and by choice.
Listening to Nabil talk about his struggles to find work and having to setup a theatre company to create jobs for people who are disabled twenty-one years ago is the same as all the social enterprises being setup by single issue founders today to help employ people just like themselves – ex-offenders, ex-addicts, ex-everything. But doing that doesn’t solve the real problem that a modern workplace should be shared by people from all social backgrounds working together. A real community.
I’ve employed lots of people in my time who had what people would call disabilities but I never saw that – just the work I needed doing and finding the best candidate for the job. No discrimination either way – just matching need with those that can meet it. I don’t think anyone should have the indignity of being given work for any other reason than because they can do it.
And what a workforce – when you’ve built a team from all social backgrounds working together is such a pleasure to watch and work with – and the productive outputs are amazing based on the physical, ethnic and cognitive diversity of the team assembled. The strongest businesses of tomorrow will look just like this.
I feel the socialist handbook around disabilities needs to be re-written (or thrown away) and I’m excited about the journey towards the perfect world because everyone from any social background will be taking part and able to work to their abilities and strengths aligned with the needs of markets and employers – that’s a society I’d say is worth fighting for Nabil Shaban.
It’s a difficult line between helping provide opportunity (carrot) and taking away benefits because someone is deemed fit to work (stick). The “socialist handbook” seems to be so much about “rights” and “entitlement” to the point of creating a “victim” or dependency mentality / culture.
You are spot-on about diversity in the workplace. It makes for happier staff and a more productive workforce.
You are dangerously misguided if you think a “global government” would turn out to be anything other than Orwellian and utterly fascist. Why do you think Goldman Sachs and the other five related bankster organisations are so keen on toppling sovereign states and calling for centralisation of currencies and political decision making???
Thanks for the feedback Russell – you’re right about people being made to feel like victims – it’s all about empowerment.
Unfortunately I don’t know much about ‘global govermment’ in that sense – more the idea of global governance and how that needs to work so it’s not driven by vested interests and control and does work. There has to be a formula but definitely can’t be power-hungry control-hungry organisations out for self-interest and money.
My wife and I started an inclusive youth theatre group five years ago. we have changed attitudes of quite a few people in theses five years and are proud of the young people we work with. Our company provides affordable drama club and everyone gets a part regardless of ability. Hell we had five Alices in our wonderland production and they complimented each others abilities.
I believe that we are all equal regardless of our abilities, but I do feel that those who give out the labels for all of us are the ones who need to be educated into realising that we are all equal. Although I’m not considered to be disabled I have been given several labels over the years, these are… Black,coloured,half cast, ethnic minority, mixed race, the list goes on! People considered disabled get the same treatment without being asked what they prefer.