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The Do-gooder

Billy Golfus
Billy Golfus is an artiste with beret,
disability troublemaker with a bad attitude
and rock and roll roué.
He doesn't do windows, and he doesn't do journalsim.

ABRIDGED FROM
The Ragged Edge:
The Disability Experience from the Pages
of The Disability Rag
Edited by Barrett Shaw

when I say Do-gooder, I don’t just mean the counselors, staff, vocational … personnel and assorted "helpers." … I mean the agencies, programs, or whatever they call "care providers." I’m talking about the professionals.

After my accident, I started to have my eyes opened very slowly. It took me years … to process what had happened. While the physical disabilities and the brain damage that I have are inconvenient, a drag even, they’re not as bad as the treatment by my friends, social systems and especially the Do-gooders. These people are "professionals" for God’s sake.

To hang the word "helping" on "professional" gives the connotation of humanity, generosity and compassion. As if their reasons for acting came out of a sense of community and personal beliefs. Give me a break. Obviously the Do-gooders don’t go into that line of work for the money – although they are making a better living than the people they "serve." And, even though the words are about supporting and serving, they’re basically trying to fill their own needs, to use the jargon.

The most reprinted essay in the English language … is George Orwell’s "Politics and the English language." He talks about the use of language to hide meanings. … Do-gooders call kids "at risk" that we used to call delinquents when I was one. The phrase "at risk" sets up a relationship between the Do-gooders and the kids. Alright, for 10 points: Who does that phrase suggest knows what’s going on? Whose values does that phrase validate?
… Do "clients" and "professionals" and "service providers" make the Do-gooders have more in common with doctors or with patients?

Language is always political. How could it be otherwise? It’s got to do with power and the distribution of goods and services ...

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