Good comment Peter. I've been around long enough to personally remember the
discussions surrounding the civil rights act of 1964, not to mention the
ongoing battles surrounding Section 504 and 508 of the rehab act and the ADA
as amended by the ADAA. In a world where people actually follow the law,
and in good faith avoid prejudice, none of these laws would be necessary.
The constitution would suffice. This used to be my stance. As I've aged,
learned and become gradually wiser and less naive, I've come to realize we
don't live in an ideal world where people will follow the law. In fact we
live in a world, and a country, in which a large number of people
intentionally circumvent the law when ever it suits them. It could be they
have a financial motive. It could be they are actively prejudice against a
certain group. Or, often, it can be they just don't really care and don't
want to take the trouble to comply. For these reasons, it is sadly a fact
that legislation like the act of 1964 and the ADA are necessary to address
the problem. It follows that these laws can only be enforced through
litigation if ignored by the public or business. So, to those who whine
about the free market, you are only correct if people act in good faith. Too
many times though, they don't act in good faith but get away with what they
think they can. A law suit if executed properly helps make sure that it
doesn't happen over and over as most businesses will change their behavior
if they recognize that not doing so will affect their bottom line as they
must defend themselves and pay judgments to injured parties. Wish it
weren't true, but it is, period.
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of peter altschul
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 9:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Why Did Feds Claim Kindle Violated Civil Rights?
Hi:
After reading the article in question and the posts it generated on this
list, it seems that the main difference between those who supported the suit
and those that didn't is that the latter group has more faith in the free
market to address discrimination issues without being forced to by the
government. I suspect that folks who opposed Civil Rights legislation in
the 1960s had the same faith in free markets to overcome centuries of
racism, sexism, and the like. I think that people can reasonably disagree
on the intelligence of a given law suit, but I find it tiresome when
conservatives always seem to complain about every discrimination-related
lawsuit every time in all circumstances except when they are singing the
reverse discrimination song.
Best, Peter
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