Many of my social media friends, most of whom are philosophers or other academics, are postulating the reasons why Trump won this week’s election in the United States. Many of them are also predicting what will unfold in the U.S. henceforth; (almost) invariably these predictions forecast catastrophe, increasing social injustice, hardening of sensibilities to the social situations of others, etc.

Furthermore, quite a few of these desperate predictions are using disabled people — one sector of the “inherently vulnerable” — to prop up their arguments doing so.

Before you do so, ask yourself these questions:

1. How many disabled people do I have in my daily life?

2. How many disabled people do I talk to on a regular basis?

3. How many times in a month do I socialize with disabled people?

4. How many disabled people are frequent guests in my home?

5. How many disabled people do I invite to my parties? Out for dinner? To a movie?

6. How many disabled people have I recommended for jobs?

7. How many disabled people work in my department?

8. How many times have I held my breath and thought to myself “Not another one” when I was notified that a disabled student in my class needed an interpreter/extra time for assignments/a notetaker, etc.

9. How many disabled philosophers do I cite in my work?

10. When was the last time that I publicly challenged a colleague on their ableism?