Let them eat cake!

[Elspode]

People with cognitive disorders may be mobile, but they labor under burdens that those with physical handicaps do not. My son is, at present, being verbally and emotionally abused by his immediate supervisor, and I'm not real sure he isn't being deprived of tip money through theft and deception because of his inability to comprehend things that you and I take for granted.

As to the issue of how someone on a limited income spends their money, let me just say this: If you haven't had to modify your entire life, probably for the rest of your life, to try and subsist on a limited income, may I humbly suggest that you probably have absolutely no realistic idea of what it is like. To suggest that Mari shouldn't complain about difficulty obtaining decent food through charitable sources if she's got an Internet connection is patently ridiculous. Life is *not* about squeezing every damn cent until you dry up and blow away, but that is by God the way our society treats the disabled.

If my son, or Mari, are expected to be even more isolated than his/her conditions cause them to be anyway, as they would be without Internet, or television, or telephone, or transportation, or pets...they'd be just about as well off dead. Life is about living, not surviving. People like Mari and Stephen are trying to do just that...live. Put on other people's shoes for a serious amount of time before you go around telling them how full of shit they are, my friends. Really.

And, just for the record, although I like Mari just fine, despite not always buying her politics or concerns, my position on this is derived strictly from my (ongoing) experience trying to see to my son's welfare, given his very limited resources. In fact, I seriously fear for his ability to survive once myself, my family, and his pretty much worthless mother - are gone.

[Trilby]

els--i went from 50,000 year to 15,000/year. I'm still here.

[Trilby]

and I've never needed to go to a food bank--thank goddess.

perhaps mari isn't praying to the right god?

thing is, els, people CAN make it. despite hardships or Absolutecan't do it-ships. even the least of us can contribute----I've a neice and a nephew who are CP--you think I or their parents feel they are doomed? Hardly.

[Elspode]

Mari and Stephen are surviving. And who the hell said anyone was giving up...or should give up? The issue isn't whether they will survive, at present. The issue is if they should shut up and like it, as I've been reading it.

Check back in a few years and see if Mari is still online, or if Stephen is still living independently and indoors. At this point, though, I would expect the opinon to go something like, "See, toldya you should have saved up."

Sorry, but I see some very judgemental points of view being thrown out here, mostly by people who aren't in these circumstances. Speaking from the point of view as regards my son, the only way he is living above his means is due to things either provided outright or subsidized by me. He's luckier than Mari in this way. And trust me...my kid *wants* to earn more. But he's incapable of doing so. Utterly incapable. Anyone who wants to drop by and look at his humble possessions and learn how he got them and see what he does to maintain his "lifestyle" is more than welcome to check it out. In fact, more than welcome to *try* it for awhile.

And, Bri...your current income, with tutition, child support/ADC/etc...is $15k? If not, how long did you have to subsist at that $15k level? Just curious, as that's a couple of thousand more than my kid makes right now with disability, food stamps and his job, after taxes and child support are taken out.

[Trilby]

els--my income is indeed 15,000/year. I used to bring down 50,000/year. I lived on 535/mo with 200/mo in food coupons for five months. I fed a 14-year old on 200/mo--that breaks down to 50/week for food for a teenage boy who measures 6'1" and 180 pounds. i have a sister who is raising two children who suffer from CP--a 14 year old girl and a 10 year old boy. Because I prodded them, the parents applied for bene's. it depends on mom and pop's income how much the children are entitled to. every year they submit their income to get an estimate for the two disabled children. both children suffer grand mal seizures, ADD, fine-motor disability and more. You think we've all forsaken them? No.

i've lived on 535/mo with 200/mo food stamps for six months including a 15 year old boy. It can be done. Currently i am living on 1600/mo. i was awarded a stipend b/c i won a scholarship--i applied and won it based on merit. sue me.

PS-as a workingRN i made 2300/month.

[Elspode]

Girl, I'm not getting snippy with you about what you've done for yourself (quite the contrary, I remember at least one PM wherein I lauded you for your efforts), nor did I say anyone was abandoning anyone. I did say that a time would come when there wasn't someone around to take care of my kid. That might happen to your relatives, too, some day.

Screw it. I'm getting too defensive here. I guess I'll just leave it at "handicapped people deserve what happens to them if they aren't miserly" before I piss off a friend.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by mariwhatever

A year ago when I bought the dog, I was allowed to earn $400.00 extra dollars per month by SSDI.

allowed? meaning, if you earned more than that, you'd lose your benefits? isn't that a little fucked up? couldn't you earn more than that plus the meager benefits that you whine about if you moved out of the mountains and looked for work?

it sounds to me like you;re content with the deal you have worked out, and are happy with that lifestyle. that's great. i still have to pay my taxes, and they won't get any cheaper if you get a job.

my only advice on this topic is that if you are unhappy with the product supplied by the food bank, let them know it by not patronizing it. maybe they'll go out of business, or a competitor will arrive and outshine them.


then again, if you got too hungry, you could always eat a dick

[Trilby]

ah...the Beauty of Marichiko--STAFF SPLITTING!

I've known this for from ever.

I've dealt with loads of very deserving disabled folk--their biggest, brightest asset? their want to contribute--no matter how small.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

allowed? meaning, if you earned more than that, you'd lose your benefits? isn't that a little fucked up?

Yeah. It ought to be set up so that for every dollar you earn, you lose 50 cents of SSDI, or something like that, to make it easier to ease back into the workforce.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Yeah. It ought to be set up so that for every dollar you earn, you lose 50 cents of SDDI, or something like that, to make it easier to ease back into the workforce.

mr. Obvious? No.

the 'system' should help the helpless to engage in society. It's good for the mental health plus more. You wanna deprive good people the chance to contribute? talk to someone else. Lots of folk want to m atter...you can volunteer without loss of benes....or didn't you know that?

[lumberjim]

I had the impression that if she made more than X, she'd lose all of the benefits altogether. If, in fact, you can earn what you want, but you give up SSDI dollars on an even scale, why not work? it'd be like a safety net, right?

[DanaC]

Elspode and rkzenrage, very eloquently put.


The system of capping anything you earn over your benefits is the system we use here too.

I think people are allows to earn about £15 pound a week above.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Brianna

mr. Obvious? No.

the 'system' should help the helpless to engage in society. It's good for the mental health plus more. You wanna deprive good people the chance to contribute? talk to someone else. Lots of folk want to m atter...you can volunteer without loss of benes....or didn't you know that?

Huh?

I don't get the connection between what I said and what you said.

My point was that if it is currently set up so that if you earn over a certain dollar amount you lose a large lump sum, then that actually discourages the recipient from earning money unless they can make enough to cover the entire SSDI payout and more. If, instead, the SSDI was decreased slowly as the recipient earned more, then every dollar they earned would reperesent a net increase in income, and there would be no point at which earning another dollar would be a net negative.

[Trilby]

I think everyone should be allowed a carte blanche---no matter what the crime. At least twice. Maybe three times

After that? I think it should be given. People here have rested on a given.

Socialists? God, I admire you--you who have never, ever been exploited. you pure white souls. you gorgeous lovlies.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Huh?

I don't get the connection between what I said and what you said.

My point was that if it is currently set up so that if you earn over a certain dollar amount you lose a large lump sum, then that actually discourages the recipient from earning money unless they can make enough to cover the entire SSDI payout and more. If, instead, the SSDI was decreased slowly as the recipient earned more, then every dollar they earned would reperesent a net increase in income, and there would be no point at which earning another dollar would be a net negative.

it;s possible that I didn't mean YOU>