appropriate. For instance, there should be legal protection of older workers and redistribution of work, giving older workers the chance to work part time, and flexible retirement should be organised on a voluntary basis. More and more companies are coming to recognise the importance of what Americans now describe as 'grey power'. We could also introduce a national transport users scheme guaranteeing reduced fare access, and some free travel provision at off-peak times, for the elderly. Other non-material benefits, such as free use of local swimming pools and easier access to cultural and educational facilities, would also dramatically improve the quality as well as the length - of life.
The Personalist Approach - Disabled People
If the opportunity to live a fulfilling and active life as part of the community and family is important to young and elderly people, how much more important it is to provide for the needs of disabled people. Here is an area of public policy crying out for a more compassionate approach. I have already highlighted the prevailing attitude of eliminating disability by destroying the disabled child (see Chapter 6). But a positive pro-life ethic, which rejects quality controls and perfection tests, must also come up with practical proposals for improving the quality of life for disabled people. In creating a more human Europe we need to use several tools: legislation, resources and the challenging of attitudes. This approach was summed up well in 1866 by Samuel Howe, when he said: 'Good intentions and kind impulses do not necessarily lead to wise and truly humane measures. Meaning well is only half our duty; thinking right is the other and equally important half.'
Disabled People - Using Legislation
I was very pleased to see that the European Christian Democrats, in their 1989 document On the People's Side, recognise the need to legislate and to promote active and independent lives for disabled people. Amongst their proposals - which the New Right would adamantly oppose - is a Guarantee for the Right to Equal Opportunities in work, as outlined in the July 1986 EC document 'Recommendations on the Employment of the Disabled'; financial solidarity with