The really thought provoking thing is that the kind of institutionalised "hospitals" which Maureen and others exposed and fought to abolish - often at great personal cost weren't ancient hangovers from distant history. They were the product of relatively recent innovations by people who were seen as reformers.

The same is true of such things as sterilisation and even "euthanasia" for people with disabilities. They weren't survivals of mediaeval times or anything like that - they were the products of the new "scientific" barbarism of the 20th century. Similar in a way to chattel slavery, in its day - seen as nice and shiny and modern and forward looking.

I sometimes wonder what nice shiny modern and forward looking innovations in our time are going to be seen in the same way in a couple of generations.