/continued...
A lot of dreadful things have happened since 1961. But a lot of encouraging things have happened too – let’s not lose sight of that. The sort of treatment meted out to war-hero Alan Turing, say, would be impossible today. Having had same-sex relationships no longer “takes away your ID card”, disqualifying you from speaking out in public, though paths to high office may remain bramble-strewn.
What a pity we can’t say the same for former service users. What a shame such progress hasn’t included improvements in services to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Where mental healthcare is concerned we have a system that would shame a Third World nation, as much today as it did then.
Whatever the builders of Enoch Powell’s “water towers” were guilty of, they cannot be accused of penny-pinching in their efforts to remedy a recognised problem as best they knew how. It is we, their descendants, who have done that. And it goes beyond simple neglect to achieve the status of persecuting a defenceless minority.
Clark Nida, Whitby 2006.
© Clark Nida, 2006, 2008.
ISBN 978-1-898728-15-3
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