The System

There are a lot of different systems.  The education system, the child welfare system the health care system, pretty much any government program has a system to go along with it. To me the disability system has to be one of the most outdated set of government programs ever invented. I hate the disability system.  You are not allowed enough money to live comfortably. You are not allowed to save money. You cannot invest money.  If you end up working and still have a disability like I do your disability gets cut after you earn a small amount and your insurance probably got cut before that.   I decided to do a bit of research about where disability insurance came from.  I found that information on  the Social Security  website.  The social security insurance system came into being in 1956.  According to what I read this insurance system was started for workers who had difficulty working due to age related conditions like arthritis.  It was not used for younger adults until the 1970s I think.

This explains a lot.  I understand a bit more why everything in this system is so messed up.  The congress that passed this law did not know there were younger people like those of us who were born with disabilities.  They may not have thought even about those people who acquired disabilities from injury or illness.  They didn't know what was in the population then.  They don't know about this population now.  The reason why this system does not help me support myself is because it wasn't made for me.  It was made for my mom and dad.  One of them is dead and the other does not work anymore.

I am still stuck with the problem of not working.  The article that I read stated that the passage of laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act was supposed to help shrink the number of people receiving disability insurance.  Even the person who wrote the article says that has not happened.  Why because laws don't change minds.  Talk to those who lived through the civil rights movement of the 1960s.  So do I try to get a traditional job?  Do I create a non traditional job such as public speaking or consulting on advocacy?  I don't know I just know a few things.

1. I have to do something
2. I hate living on disability
3. Like most of us I am better at doing things I like rather than just getting paid.

I also know that it is most people's American dream to be rich and not worry about money.  I would just like to be middle class.  I want to be able to pay my mortgage, have enough food and after all my bills are paid, be able to go on an occasional vacation.  What a goal! anyway signing off.