November 29, 2006
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Money and the Blind
A federal judge ordered the Treasury Department to make money so that the blind can use it.
All of the paper money used in the United States is the same size and has the same feel to it. So blind people have been having friends fold over money in certain ways so they could tell their money apart. Here is the link: Link
But a federal judge ruled that the government is discriminating against blind people by printing it all the same. So now the Treasury Department has to come up with a new solution.
Should the government have to change the way it makes money to accommodate the blind?
Comments (150)
Yes
I think it’s definitely an innovative idea…it’ll take a lot of money to implement the idea, but we have to be fair to all American citizens, and they do get cheated because the size and shape of American money is so uniform. I think it should at least be considered, or an alternative that’s close to the texturizing solution the judge suggested should be developed by the U.S. government. All in all, it’s a good idea.
I don’t think they should have to, but it’s not a bad idea to slowly phase it in as they chaged bills.
I think it is an excellent idea! I’ve often wondered how a blind person could be sure that he/she wasn’t being ripped off if they didn’t have a seeing person with them when making a monetary transaction.
If blind people have made it this far, I think that things are OK. I have nothing against blind people, but I cannot imagine how much it will cost us to reprint all our paper money. Goodness, it was bad enough when we redesigned the stuff!
I think it’s a splendid idea
I think so.
If i were blind, i would want it. It’s a good idea.
10…ish
Yeah why not?
Hm I’m never thought about that before. Good idea.
Have you ever wondered why they have brail on a drive-thru ATM?
Screw ‘Em………..
How would they do that? that is crazy!
How about just giving all the blind people $50 in debit cards every year instead? That might be cheaper and make everyone happy enough to keep using regular sized money for the small purchases.
no. Too much of an expense. Concerns with fake money…
My concern is that the Judicial branch is again making rulings in areas which is not under their Constitutional jurisdiction. The United States currency is not the responsibility of the Judiciary.
Of course. Makes sense to me… I wonder if the Canadian bills already have something for the blind. Hmm.
I can see and even I have trouble telling American bills apart. They all look the same!
NO. Not because I have anything against accomodating the blind, but because it leads us down a path already taken to extremes which overburdens our society. How do the blind deal with debit cards and receipts? How about checks? How about online banking? What ever happened to a) personal responsibility? and b) non-state (private/church/np) organizations helping out?
I can also see “raised” print on bills creating havoc for the electronics industry who manufactures bill readers. My company makes products using this technology and every time the treasury makes a change it creates a service nightmare. To alter the physical nature of the bills could have an extreme impact.
no. people are too quick to cry discrimination whenever something makes life just a little bit harder for them.
they dont have to
but its nice that they’re going to
So many other countries have already figured this one out and use different size bills. Why are we so behind on this one?
Government…Of the people, For the people, and By the People
Of course we have came a long ways from this, but if the government ever wants to be back on the same side as the people, then they need to start doing things like this. Some people would say that this is a nice idealist idea, but the government shouldn’t be forced to do this. Well the government in the first place shouldn’t be forced to do so, because they should have already done something like this. But since the government is a long ways away from this, then there a lot of things that they need forcing to do. See, its not just us who is are “forced” to do things by the government, but we can “force” the government to do things as well.
definitely. besides, it’s just money. having them different sizes etc doesn’t suddenly “ruin” them
It’s not just the legally blind that have trouble distinguishing bills. There are the elderly and other folks who have difficulty with the uniformity of our bills. It doesn’t hurt to talk about change. In fact, with all the other stipulations on accomodating Americans with Disabilities, I’m thoroughly surprised it’s taken this long.
I like the idea. It should have already been done.
it’s like people automatically assume that they’re going to have “raised” parts of bills. come on people. it’s paper. it wouldn’t last long enough.
Would have been nice if they’d thought of that the last time they changed the bills.
i think that its a good idea and should be done. it’d be cool. yeah, they put color in them, but blind ppl can’t see color.
Kelly
I do not think it is a bad idea,but I think braille would get flattened,,,,maybe coins would work!
I dunno. So did Europeans make the bills with different sizes for that reason?
Should they? Well, it seems everybody else is being accomodated. Why is this any different than say handicapped parking etc. I think yes.
yes, I believe this is an ok thing….and by doing this, it would be another deterrent to counterfeiting perhaps
I think it’s cool!!!!
and btw………..
EVERYONE VOTE FOR DAISYMAE!!!!!!!!! SHE’S AWESOME (and I have even met her in person!) lol
I’m glad I read that link.
I think got my attention.
“Any change to the dollar’s design could ripple into the vending machine industry, which participated in discussions regarding previous redesigns.”
How commercialist and capitalist are we that soda machine companies have a say in whether or not the dollar is changed?
If we’re talking about changing the feel so the blind can tell it apart, right now it’s more a matter of discrimination. . .why should the opinions of businessmen even be sought?
Morals and business do not go together!
Yes. If the government is going to conform to everyone else’s political correctness, they should make money different too. It’s not fair to blind people who don’t know if someone’s cheating them out of money or not unless the government does. I’m suprised this hasn’t been done earlier.
i was just reading about this. while it would be nice, i just cant see the US changing all of their bills any time soon… they just designed new ones, and to remove all of the current currency and replaceit with new stuff? thatd be pretty hard, what will people do with all the money they have now?
Changing the money doesn’t only affect vending and soda machine….it will affect ATM’s too. This could be a very expensive project and opens a new field of counterfeiting that could target just the blind. Right now they have trusted friends marking their bills, so they know for sure what the demonination of their bills are. Raised braille would get flatten in the various machines that our money is subjected to and make the demomination questionable again. Color changes open a field of discrimination against color blinded people depending on what colors are added and to what degree besides that does not help blind people. Perforating the bills as an identifying factor will not work either since it is too easy to counterfeit. It is nice to want to make it easier for people with handicaps but sometimes they have to make the adjustment …..not everyone else. I know I would love to make everyone whole and healthy but …….everyone has limits of some kind and sometimes the best thing is just to work around the limitations.
I think that it would be a nice idea… but I think their folding trick is probably more innovative than anything the Treasury could come up with.
If they do change the money, it could be good as long as they do it gradually….
absolutely.
I don’t mind changing the bills to being different sizes. I’ve had friends come from other countries and say it’s difficult to deal with them because all the bills are the same size and same color. And when I went to another country the bigger the bill, the more it was worth, and then there was color. It made it fun
But then… is it worth all the money it’s going to cost to change our currency worth it? And all the trouble that’s going to ensue with companies that use electronic devises, and people making fake money, etc. etc. etc.
To answer the real question: No, I don’t think the government should change the currency to accomodate the blind. Then they should change it to accomodate women. We like colors, we want our currency a different color and the goverment is discriminating against us because of our love of color and refuses to add more to our bills!
And when has the the currency been purposefully made to discriminate against the blind? The guys who were planning out the money have always had the thought in their mind that Isn’t it going to be funny when the blind can’t figure out which bill to give for payment? And they should make it all one size because the blind won’t be able to tell.
P.S. I don’t think Judge Robertson is looking at the whole picture… they just have an agenda for the blind. The one woman mentioned is smart, she folds her bills. She isn’t complaining, she’s isn’t whining, she found a solution.
It seems kind of amazing to me that we haven’t done this yet. My dad’s also been complaining for years about US money, b/c it’s all the same size and basically looks the same. It can be easy to mix up bills sometimes. Most other countries have different sized and colored bills for diffrent denominations of money. It only makes sense to do it that way.
I like the idea of bills of different denominations being of different sizes, then it would be easier for everyone to sort them.
I love that people are whining about the blind wanting a little extra help. The visually impared have it WAY harder than any of the rest of us, yes we should do little things like this to help them out.
I don’t think it should be required. However, it’s an interesting Idea.
it seems reasonable, but a judge ‘ordering’ it is ridiculous — they’re not being discriminated against
Every time I go to see family in ireland, they always ask how old people (and, I guess, the blind) can tell the money apart in America, since it is all the same size, all the same color.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we were a society that worried about the elderly like that?
if they found a way to alter money to help the blind without drastically changing it (maybe punch holes in a specific spot or something), sure. change it.
It’s either that or change the blind to accomodate the money, but I see no problem. Actually, I once heard that people who are blind fold the money a certain way to tell the difference between a one dollar bill or a ten dollar bill. Either way, as long as they are happy, it’s ok with me.
sure. doesn’t harm me.
You’re fat? I’m so disillusioned.
I think it would be nice of them, but I don’t think they should have to.
yes…i think its great…
i find it funny when peole are so quick to say no and then go on to say people are always crying discrimination….bet they wouldn’t feel that way if it were themselves who had to deal with it…
I love reading your blog, but the thing I wonder about mostly is how many times you can burp in five minutes.
i think it’s a great idea. sad it’s taken us over 225 years to figure it out.
I think ‘discriminating’ is too stong a word.
But it’s a good idea.
canada does have braille on the new bills. kinda funky. don’t know how long it lasts but it’s a nice gesture anyways.
I kind of feel bad that I never actually thought about that. I always worried about just having money.. I couldn’t even imagine not being able to tell the difference.
I guess if it is that big of a deal to the blind then yes. However, if the government is just making decisions for them.. that’s another story. Maybe they are just trying to be “super heros” where they arn’t needed. People like getting unnecessary attention like that. I’m not blind.. so I guess I have no right to decide.
Why not? It’s not that big of a deal. It really isn’t that hard to slowly phase out the non-blind friendly money. It would work in the same way that changing the look of money would work. Although I do see the points that FKIProfessor made.
I think it is a really good idea, but blind people are not stupid. They have figured out how to fix the problem by themselves. Why make a big deal out of such a small problem, we are already in a huge budget crisis.
i think that’s an awesome idea! of course it depends on the solution that the treasury department comes up with, but it shouldn’t be too hard to print money that is easy for the blind to use as well.
It would be a lot of work, but definitely worth it.
“What ever happened to a) personal responsibility?” Posted 11/29/2006 at 8:30 AM by FKIProfessor
Um, they’re blind, asshole.
I don’t think Judge Robertson is looking at the whole picture… they just have an agenda for the blind. The one woman mentioned is smart, she folds her bills. She isn’t complaining, she’s isn’t whining, she found a solution.Posted 11/29/2006 at 9:42 AM by Kaysera
But she has to rely on others initially to tell her what bills equal what amounts.
Well, we do it here. And we’re all third world and stuff
I’m surprised it took the States so long.
No, I don’t think we should have to change the money. The Act the judge refers to has an exemption for where it would cause an “undue burden.”
It also depends on how much money it’ll take to make this change, my blind friend has no problem with monetary transactions.
I don’t know why it shouldn’t be. They can emboss it in braille or something. Make it as accessible as anything else. It won’t hurt anyone. There would be the counterfeiting factor to take into account, though.
other countries differentiate denominations of paper money by both size and color. i myself, being neither elderly nor blind, have made a mistake handing a bill to a cashier > haven’t you ever handed over ones thinking they were fives or tens? dj interleaves his bills, ones facing one way, fives the opposite way, tens the first way, and twenties the opposite way. that way it cuts down on all paper money looking alike!
yes, the federal government should have to make reasonable accomodation for persons with disabilities, and being able to use the federally mandated currency seems to be a more than reasonable request.
ummm…not to be anti blind, but its just kind of dumb to change it, and it would take forefver for the non-new bills to phase out. maybe we should use coins like canada?
I think it’s a reasonable idea.
They pass these laws then are shocked that they are actually enforced.
Life is not fair, being blind is hard. We can try to make it a little less hard, but this goes much to far.
I think it’s a fantastic idea!! I’ve always wondered about it, and I am sure it would make their lives a million times easier if they could handle money themselves and not have to depend on someone else.
Yea. Some of the disabled (usually mentally) have difficulty with money too. Heck, now we keep changing the $ anyways (I couldn’t tell you what certain denominations looks like) so what’s the big deal.
The asshole inside of me says “No, it’s their fault they’re blind.” But I know that isn’t true. Actually, I don’t think I’d really have anything against the idea of changing money to accomodate the visually-disabled.
YES I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD! WOOHOO!
Why not. It will all still spend the same.
I don’t know… it would be a good idea to have differently sized and colored currency, to make it easier for everyone to see the difference (and it’s just pretty), but the cost is extravagant. Would you rather have a plain old $50 bill in your pocket or a fancy braille $20? As we naturally revamp the system of currency, we should include size changes, but it should be spread over years and years.
In the meantime, the blind can either insist to be paid in ones, use quarters, or have someone help them.
No, they’ve made out well so far. What do the blind people have to say about it?
sure. it wouldn’t be all that hard to imprint Braille numbers on it, though.
Yes. Euros for example are printed in different sized bills according to denomination. We should have a similar system here.
i agree with einsteinboy89, i dont think the government has to, but it should. then again my first thought was its about time! and i also agree with ChildOfTheKing4Ever. govnt by the people, of the people and for the people!
I don’t really care.
I’m not sure it’s discrimination exactly, since discrimination is treating someone either better or worse than the norm simply because you want to. It also begs the question, what have blind people been doing all these years? I mean, just because people have been getting along for years doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem, but it does seem to indicate that some research should be done before jumping headlong into something that sound good. However, it is a good idea to differentiate between the bills. But it should be done with some kind of raised feature, whether Braille or just a pattern. Making different denominations different sizes would make it too hard to organize money in a wallet, especially if a smaller denomination is larger than a larger denomination.
I’m sorry, I think it’s stupid. Of course, I think the claim of discimination is crap so if they’d used different wording, I might be saying it’s a good idea.
just who in the hell do these judges think they are?
sounds like a great idea, besides they shouldn’t have a problem changing the bills, they all ready have added so many marks that it looks worse than monopoly money…lol
At last glance the newest twenty dollar bills are tye dyed, have a huge eagle on the front, a metallic copper colored 20 in the corner, a metallic gold eagle and crest, “twenty USA, USA twenty” in a doctor seuss looking script, small 20′s all over the back side and a mini president’s head in it when held up to the light… what does a few raised markings or a little variance in sizes really matter at this point.
How much will it cost?
i think that’s a beautiful idea.
Fight Mental Illness Stigma
The governments of the world have been “discriminating” against the blind since money was first coined and since the first blind person existed.
To answer the real question: No, I don’t think the government should change the currency to accomodate the blind. Then they should change it to accomodate women. We like colors, we want our currency a different color and the goverment is discriminating against us because of our love of color and refuses to add more to our bills!
Posted 11/29/2006 at 9:42 AM by Kaysera
… not only is it stereotypical to say that all women like color, but liking color is not a disability. lol
Is it not the job of the treasury to deal with US currency? Why is a judge making this decision?
Discrimination is the wrong word. No one intentionally fucked over the blind when designing the bills, and if the bills wern’t changed to accomidate the blind it would be due to other factors, (cost, counterfitting, ect.) not to be unfair to them.
It would be nice to eventually phase in new bills of different sizes though, not only to help out the blind, but everyone for that matter.
Sure! Why not?
Yeah, but then how will i work the coke machine with a one dollar bill the size of a notecard?
but yes, they are taxed so we might as well.
works for me! Our money’s so much more boring than other countries anyway, plus I’m sure I’ll be so blind I won’t be able to tell the bills apart at some point in my life.
I can’t read what this post says. I think Dan is discriminating against the blind by not offering an audio blog to supplement his written blog. It’s a good thing I learned to type before I became blind because I would have no way to voice this injustice!
Make it all national credit built into our IDs or Driver’s Licences.
Yes.
they should
They’re changing the bills right now, so sure, they should take that into consideration.
They should’ve done that from the start. It might be a pain to change it now, but it’s necessary.
Why not? I think its a great idea.
Using braille may be costly, so why not use diferent sizes to represent each bill? Or maybe diferent textures.
it’s about time that they do. i know this blind guy that used to have his cash sorted and was pretty good at doing his money. it was remarkable how he would buy things and just know which bill to pull. weird.
Sorry, spellings not my best event.
that would be really expensive for a minority…we need to wiegh between what’s best for the majority and the minortiy…if we did everything to help every minority we’d have such a mess, and no one would be happy
oh look we already have a mess…and yet we’re giong to make it bigger…
I have a friend who is blind, and he just told me how difficult it all is. Great to make provision for those disadvantaged in some way. No, it won’t cost that much at all to make the switch. We should.
Sure. I think it’s a great idea.
well, if something’s already helping them out – then no.
but i think it wouldn’t be a problem at all ;]
No I don’t think so.
I think people in this country see discrimination behind every bush.
If they phased in something that made it a little easier for the blind over the next several years it would definitely be a good thing.
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Waste
Of
Time / Money / Energy
it’s a good idea, but it would take too much time. yeah, it sucks that they are blind, but it’s just something you have to deal with. we can’t change every little thing that makes someone’s life harder. if we did, then we’d be changing stuff every single day.
That would be cool.
I think we should change the sizes, for the blind and just the people who can’t see very well. People would be less likely to short-change others.
Yes, it’s an excellent idea. I don’t think that the government means to be discriminating against the blind (that would be ridiculous… well, probably), but it is a problem that could be fixed, and should be fixed.
Yeah, I think so. No one deserves to be cheated.
This is completely and totally unconstitutional and moronic. First the judicary (sp?) is doing what everyone has been afraid it will do and that is take ground away from the other branches of government. Secondly on the moronic issue, why do blind people need money that is different sizes. In order for blind people to go anywhere they have to a person who can see take them. Wouldn’t it be safe to assume that this person would be able to tell the blind person what bill they are using?
yes. they shouldn’t have to put braille on them, but maybe snipping off a corner or putting a special cut out pattern on the top or bottom would be helpful and not too hard to do.
YES
No.
What a trip! I like the post that says we women are discriminated against cuz we like pretty color money…the blind thing has been around since …what…forever. NOW that our society is sue happy, the blind folks are getting in on it…whatever. Adjust, like everyone else SHOULD. I doubt very seriously that the majority of the blind folks are whinning…just that select FEW.
I don’t see why not.
Probable, but just how and what the change should be is not the purview or a judge.
I actually did an interview with a member of the Council of the Blind. The blind people actually have a money reader to tell what each bill amount is (or they fold each bill different ways). So sure, they can make money for the blind but they aren’t totally helpless with money as of now.
http://www.independentliving.com/prodinfo.asp?number=541625
i don’t see why not. i’m pretty sure they don’t feel all that comfortable having people count their money for them. also, people tend to be untrustworthy when it comes to money. greed >____< rrrg!
I think thats a great idea! They should have done this sooner.
It’s a good idea, but not feasible.
Here in Canada our bills are not only gaily coloured (in that happy sense, honest) but also have braille. They stay the same, and everyone’s happy.
Til the braille bumps fade.
Should the blind drive? I thought most of them had friends?
Some of you people make me want to fucking puke! I mean honestly…
“Screw ‘Em………..
Posted 11/29/2006 at 8:16 AM by RdKingClassic03“?!?!?!
What the hell? I seriously hope that you never loose YOUR vision there chief or know what it is like to be blind even temporarily… My best friend has been blind since birth and he’s had to cope with being able to tell denominations apart by trusting the person who is giving him his change or having a friend at hand – and he has been cheated a few times by unscrupulous people. So yeah he’s already been screwed from the get go, thank you very much for your compassion.
“I love that people are whining about the blind wanting a little extra help. The visually impared have it WAY harder than any of the rest of us, yes we should do little things like this to help them out.” – Amen to that onem haplessllama!
While I’m not agreeing that it’s discrimination to the blind I do think it’s time and past time that something is done to help blind people diferentiate between different denominations. How this would work with things like vending machines and ATMs I haven’t a clue but somehow or another we’ll just have to deal with it.
We should have the government spend money over money when you have probably bashed the government for not having enough money?
Isn’t that like bashing the president when he “went to war for oil” and then bashing him for not doing anything about the energy “crisis”?
No!!
Yes, I think it’s a great idea.
How many blind people are there in America???
THAT WOULD BE WAY COOL! I COULD PAY FOR SHIT WITH MY EYES CLOSED! IVE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THAT! =D
Innovative, and useful. It’ll certiantly make the money harder to forge.
’nuff said…
No. Blind people seem to be getting along just fine with that money folding business you speak of.
-KrIsTiN-
Nah. Then someone may be allergic to the chemicals on the bills and the Treasury Dept has to come up with another solution?
A great good and a great evil average out to mediochre.
That is the quest for non-discrimination for all US citizens in our great great nation and…
The way everyone want’s web pages to load FASTER, wants the package FASTER, wants the data ON DEMAND, NOW NOW NOW…
And these odd wars in far off places which are not annoying.
We can go apeshit over bills but it’s all still pretty lame.
braille is the obvious solution though of course could be tampered with by the unscrupulous or unsuspecting
I have an ambition to help the blind, deaf and mute so this topic caught my interest.
I’m not sure about American notes, our notes are of different sizes and some even differs in textures. As someone who took business as major in college, reprinting money is an expensive burden paid by taxpayers where the majority of them isn’t blind. BUT it is also a fact that blind people contributes economically, even in small amounts. Small amounts in large numbers makes a difference as well. Maybe it shouldn’t be changing the bills, perhaps could come up with a better way to accomodate the blinds in terms of this.
Dan, perhaps you should have a discussion to come up with alternative ideas other than/in addition to changing the notes?
No, it’s just another thing that’s going to cost us more money, like having to print everything in English AND Spanish.
This is probably just one more of the issues that will move us into a cashless society. I think the idea of some type of card for the blind makes more sense. It seems in our society, we have decided if it’s not “one size fits all” it is discrimination.
If they do this, then they need to: force the airlines to make bigger seats for the “size challenged”, put braille on all packaged products and make it totally illegal to make fun of Christians!
I grew up being “different” just because I was a Christian. Stores are ALWAYS running out of products I need, or don’t even carry them. I’m lefthanded, too, and you’d be amazed how inconvenient that can be in this “right hand dominant” world. I can’t reach things on the higher shelves in the grocery stores (most people can’t!) We are ALL different in some way. We all have to compensate in some way. I’m all for making things handicap accessible when it doesn’t place an undue burden on society, but there are MILLIONS of ways people are coping every day in ways no one else even thinks about. The price we’d pay in taxes to implement this would be astronomical. Yes… keep it in mind for the future, but for ONE judge to tell the government what they have to do in this matter is rediculous.
Good luck with that.
Yes. However, I may be somewhat biased seeing as I am well on my way to losing my eyesight, or so the doctors say.
no but what need to happen is to have a small brail strip that a blind person can afix on to their own bills
Having a family friend that is blind… yes.. i totally agree.. he wasn’t always blind..so.. he survives on the memory of where to sign on a check to solve that issue =P but still…
I agree with the spirit of change, maybe a reduced ‘braille-type’ mark on the bills, at the edges and the machines and ATMs handling tolerance can be adjusted to handle these bills in much the same way the machines handle badly used bills…. or something…
Peace
i think it is a great idea!!!! caz if i where blind i would want it so that i don’t have to fold my$. (i like to keep my $ straight)
I think it’s definitely a good idea. One positive, aside from the assistance it would provide to the blind, is that making it raised, or different in some other way could make it so that our money would be more difficult to counterfeit.
Why not?
It’s America, aren’t we all supposed to be treated with equality?