The AutSide Podcast

Episode 222: Decoding RFK Jr.'s Capitalist Autism Rhetoric


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“Today’s episode deconstructs the rhetoric of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding autism, arguing that his language, whilst appearing to address issues of freedom and equality, is actually rooted in a capitalist framework that devalues autistic lives based on economic utility. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, uses a “Capitalist Dictionary” to decode terms like “freedom,” “equality,” “happiness,” and “failure,” demonstrating how Kennedy uses these words to reinforce the idea that human worth is tied to productivity and service to the wealthy. Dr. Hoerricks suggests that Kennedy’s focus on “crisis” and “burden” is not about human suffering, but about the disruption autistic existence poses to a system prioritising compliance and profit. Ultimately, they contend that Kennedy’s narrative promotes exploitation and echoes the principles of eugenics by judging the value of lives based on their perceived economic usefulness.”

Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/capitalist-dictionary-decoding-rfk

Let me know what you think.

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The AutSide PodcastBy Jaime Hoerricks, PhD