In the midst of a big research project I’ve been doing on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, I happened to come accross the Department of Justice’s 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. It is the single most insane official document I have ever seen.*You know you're on the road to serfdom when a cripple PEES IN THE STALL NEXT TO YOU.
New and altered dwelling units have to have kitchens and bathrooms five feet wide, with expansive kitchen countertops. (I immediately wondered how on earth New Yorkers of the future will be able to afford their rent, just to provide access that might not be needed once in a hundred years). The regulations on recreational boat slips and pools seem almost intentioanlly absurd. But by the time you get to the mandates for mini-golf courses, it’s not so funny anymore. If you’re already having a bad day, you probably should not look at this document, especially if you have ever read Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom (1944).
*It may be worth noting that Mario Loyola served at the Pentagon under Doug Feith and must have some basis for comparison.
8 comments:
Having some knowledge of how the Standards are intended to be applied, and the technical details of the standards, let me state for the record and without getting into Smut-Clyde level of pedantic detail, that he is full of shit.
I recommend he contact an architect immediately for explanation of what the standards actually mean and how they are to be applied. I will require a credit card number up front to pay for my time explaining things patiently to this nimrod. The fee is higher if he prefers not to be hit over the head with a large stick.
I would prefer a more direct approach: Chop his legs off and then ask him what he thinks of the ADA standards.
Related: I recently did a Code Analysis for an indoor trampoline park, and YES. there were accessibility requirements to some extent, as it is a public facility.
No, it doesn't require people to be able to bounce into the foam pit in a wheelchair. However, access to the climbing wall? why not? You spend your time pushing yourself around in a chair, you'd be able to climb using just your arms also.
Let me guess: his 'research project' regarding the ADA has the conclusion already written.
I would prefer a more direct approach: Chop his legs off and then ask him what he thinks of the ADA standards.
You watch Breaking Bad? Like when Hank backs his SUV into the assassin, crushing his legs between the cars.
Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom (1944)
Heh. The dude spent WW2 in London writing a jeremiad against the kind of economic central planning that was enabling the Brits and the US to win the feckin' war.
Just thinking, history might have been different if Churchill and Roosevelt had listened to the Hayek Freedom Prescription and allowed market forces to provide the tanks and warships and bombers.
Smut-Clyde level of pedantic detail
Compliments are appreciated.
Mostly, in my professional experience, the result of the ADA is that Americans with disabilities can more easily find housing.
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That's a net subtraction from freedom, right?
Compliments are appreciated. '
Well, you deserve it.
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