Le Promeneur immobile (The Motionless Walker), by Philippe Pozzo di Borgo. Published 31/8/22.
The French autobiography denounces the “tyranny of performance and autonomy” which would like to eliminate, out of selfishness, the “weight” of disability. In a story he explains the difference between his two lives, that of the able-bodied man and that of the quadriplegic, “that of the senses, noisy and agitated, and the other, insensitive, suffering and inert”. “To what encumbers us so much, competition, normality, productivity, efficiency, appearance respond to silence, relationship, simplicity, intimacy, assumed dependence. » This reflection leads him to denounce euthanasia which is a “violence done to the humiliated, as well as to their companions and caregivers”. He criticizes society for its inability to support, with respect and dignity, people at the end of life.