Why The Law Of Attraction Is Toxic To Disabled People.

(And oppressed peoples generally)

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What Is The Law Of Attraction?

The Law of Attraction (LOA) is the idea that you attract what you put out into the world. In other words, if you put out positivity and generosity then you will receive happiness and wealth. If you put our healthy thoughts you will be healthy.

The Law Of Attraction is framed as an empowering belief, that anyone can practice and change their life for the better.

Of course, there is zero evidence to support this. While Law Of Attraction is not directly a religious belief it is often tied to religion and even among those who are "non-religious" but practice it, it is a faith-based belief.

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How Is This Applied To Disabled & Chronically Ill People?

The Law Of Attraction is toxic when applied to disabled and chronically ill people because it implies that disabled and chronically ill people put out something negative into the world in order to "deserve" their illness. This is often perpetuated in movies and TV where villains are disabled or bad people experience terrible accidents to "teach them a lesson" about being better people.

But disability does not happen to good or bad people. It just happens. Being disabled does not make you a bad person or mean you did something to deserve it. Even if you do learn things from living with disability that doesn't mean disability was necessary for you to learn those things.

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Myths & Stereotypes It Perpetrates

The law of attraction perpetuates dangerous stereotypes like:

-Positive thinking can cure chronic illness

-Negative thinking, depression, or anxiety causes illness

-Disabled people did something to "deserve" their disability

Simply by wrapping these ideas into a positive framing of empowerment, the law of attraction gets away with blaming disabled people for their illness or disability.

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Toxic Posivity

Toxic positivity as it applies to disabled people can best be summarized by two myths, both of which the Law Of Attraction perpetuates:

Myth: Positive thinking can cure chronic illness

Fact: No amount of positive thinking can fix someone's genetics, post-viral complications, chronic inflammation etc.

Myth: Negative thoughts, depression, and anxiety cause chronic illnesses

Fact: Chronic illness causes depression and anxiety due to high levels of pain, discrimination, poverty, neglect, and even brain inflammation

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Beyond Toxic Positivity

Law Of Attraction does not just promote toxic positivity but also actively discourages community building, disability justice, and empathy. It encourages the status quo by justifying inequity and inequality as a consequence of a fair and natural "law."

Law Of Attraction is an inherently conservative ideology. It is an explanation of suffering in the world that encourages us not to fix injustice and help the unfortunate but to see the world as inherently fair. To believe that oppressed people deserve their oppression.

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Temptation of Law of Attraction

With all the ways that the Law Of Attraction does harm to the disabled community, you would expect it to be highly unpopular. Yet some disabled people still practice it.

The Law of Attraction is tempting because it is so common when you become disabled to reflect on your previous life and see things you could have done better. The Law of Attraction blames any past mistakes for your disability yes. But it also offers a way out. It says "if you just become more positive, more generous, etc. you will be cured."

It is deeply tempting because if you believe you are a better person now than you were in the past, it gives you reason to believe that you will get better even if everyone around you will not. It preys on exceptionality bias, that is, the belief that we are special.

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Weaponization of Law Of Attraction

But among the wealthy is where the Law Of Attraction becomes truly weaponized and dangerous. If you are unfortunate. the Law Of Attraction is pitched as a path to redemption. But if you are fortunate, the Law of Attraction is confirmation that no matter what bad things you may have done. you must be a good person. A highly dangerous mythos especially under capitalism where greed and selfishness so often bring about wealth.

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Faith vs Law Of Attraction

The Law Of Attraction is in many ways simply an extension of faith. It is religion without God. The idea that some magical force is out there giving everyone what they deserve. Call it Law Of Attraction, call it God, call it Karma. It can be just as harmful no matter which name you choose.

Indeed Karma is the justification for the Hindu Caste system, a severely hierarchical and oppressive system that sustains itself by the justification that those at the bottom of society are redeeming themselves for past wrongdoing and that to advocate for a more equitable society goes against religion.

There is nothing wrong with having faith. With wanting to believe that things can be better than they are. Indeed faith can be a powerful tool for inspiring change. But when faith is used to justify the status quo typing people's personal spirituality to systemic injustice this is deeply dangerous. Positive thinking and "manifesting" are not the way that we can make the world better. Not for ourselves, and certainly not for others.

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Law Of Attraction Summarized

The Law of Attraction is a belief that you attract what you put out into the world. However, it is used by fortunate people to justify their privilege and avoid feeling an obligation to others as well as to blame those with disability or other misfortune for their own suffering.

The Law of Attraction simply is not compatible with the reality of disability and chronic illness. It is hyper-individualistic and does not acknowledge systemic factors that determine a person's options in life. It is not a law at all, it is a false belief that can easily be weaponized to harm others.

If you personally find the Law of Attraction a helpful belief, I encourage you to consider the ramifications of society holding this line of thought. Beliefs are not harmless and the Law of Attraction is an excellent example of how privileged beliefs can perpetuate societal injustice.

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The Law Of Attraction (a tag with over 15 million Insta posts) is a dangerous form of toxic positivity that can do immense harm to disabled chronically ill and marginalized people.

The law of attraction states that people attract the energy they put out into the world. In its most simple and innocent form it is a sort of variation on the golden rule "do unto others as you would have other do unto you."

But those who follow this belief tend to take it much further. Justifying that it is the natural state of the world that good people be rewarded and bad people suffer.

The problem is you cannot know who is good person by looking, but you can easily see who has been "rewarded" with success and money, or "punished" with disability and illness.

Illness and disability are not punishments for anything you have done wrong.

Money and success are much more likely to be due to ignoring your moral compass than following it.

Instead or promoting positivity and kindness what the law of attraction ends up doing then is blaming marginalized people for their own suffering while giving rich priviledged people a pedistal to stand on.

This is not unique to the law of attraction. Monotheistic religion karma, and toxic positivity can all justify the same dangerous and toxic worldview. But the law of attraction is perhaps its most distilled and dangerous form.

Because not only does it say "your place is you fault and what you deserve" it also says "you can better yourself simply by putting out positive energy." It makes staying sick or staying poor a moral failing. Not just a moral consequence.

The sad thing is, there is a truth to the fact that if we all acted more kindly and generously to eachother we would all be better off. That if we treated the sick and disabled compassionately and with respect it would not be such a miserable way to exist.

But this action must be collaborative and collective and the law of attraction does not incentivise the most priviledged people to help. Those who could do the most good if they chose too.

Instead it incentivises isolation and detachment from people with "bad vibes" aka marginalized people. Further dividing us.