Mr. AButterfinger25: I would just observe that even the concept of equality in America is based on morality. Slavery was legal everywhere and for about forever, until the British churchs and government set to overthrow that institution and rightfully so. The concept of equality is based on the moral belief that all men are created equal. The laws have changed to reflect what we now believe equality to mean. To say that ADA and ACAA are not morality driven ignores the underlying moral values in the concept of equality.
I agree that the passenger is in the best position to tell whether they need assistance. If everyone was honest, there would be no problem. In the absence of everyone being honest, however, I just believe there should be some gatekeeper to such services, even if it is just requiring a doctor's certification. As you discussed, it depends on where we think the system should error.
Its a lot like criminal justice: Is it better to have a criminal justice system which lets the guilty go to protect an innocent person from being convicted, or have a system which occassionally convicts the innocent in order to make sure the guilty are punished. Do we provide assistance to everyone so no disabled person gets left behind, or do we have stricter limits even though occassionally a disabled person may not get the assistance they need. There are moral and financial basis for either decision.
|