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Instead of people clocking their neighbors when they see them out and about, maybe they should look them up when they aren't seeing them and see how they're doing.
Pre-judging and making assumptions about others is not an admirable attribute.
I see some of you all getting defensive about my post, must be guilt. The neighbor I am talking about....is on disability for having a so called "bad back". If you can perform everyday tasks like yard work, installing above ground swimming pools, dig a huge mound of dirt, remove & replace the a/c compressor on your car..? You do not deserve social security benefits!!
I have read and considered each and every post above this addition. I was furious to read that someone here thinks COPD is strictly a smoker's affliction. It most certainly is NOT! Emphysema is closely linked to COPD as well as asthma and chronic bronchitis and a great many people who have never smoked and were never in a smoking home have suffered from COPD. I can name two on my street alone.
Fact number 1: Once you are on social security disability (I am not a recipient, by the way), you are encouraged to return to work, at least part time, if possible. That encouragement comes directly from the Social Security Administration.
Fact number 2: Once a recipient gets the disability, there are reviews to see if there are any changes in the condition. These have to be verifiable by licensed physicians. Malpractice suits being what they are, finding a doctor to lie for you is real hard to come by.
I know and have known several people, currently and in the past, who receive disability and I wonder to myself about the legitimacy of the claim as the original poster does. But here is the very critical point: If you have The Book handy, take a quick look at Matthew 7:1.
I have no intention of turning this into a sermon, but look at yourselves when you suspect your neighbor of wrongdoing; looking for justification of that suspicion. Same kind of mentality as lynching mobs and protests gone wrong. Don't feed hate and don't allow it to tarnish your thoughts. Look at what is happening globally, the economy, the fears of the end of the world happening not only in our lifetime but in the very foreseeable future.
It all starts with unrest, like pointing an accusing finger at a neighbor. Who are we to say what others "deserve?"
AliceT thank you for those wise words, and those who speak with broad brushes lose my ear when it comes to tort reform and disability because they fail to discriminate between toomie and scammers.
The purpose for these processes was to serve an ill in society, and which ill of society getting their appropriate help is the real issue IMO. Folks get angry with scammers (understood) but take it out on everyone. Many problems are medically justified, and others of a behavioral nature (addictions) need a different approach because disability program as it is only seems to enable their disease to progress.
A few months ago a woman in kmart with a mentally handicapped/ downs syndrome teen read the customer service attendant the riot act and threatened to sue Kmart for failure to provide a wheel chair for a teen who could walk (albeit awkwardly). Kmart HAD ample wheel chairs until they were stolen, one by one. The few remaining were occupied by other customers. Who steals wheel chairs, and why? This should not be Kmart's problem, I applaud their attempts at courtesy, nor should entitlement complaints be taken seriously by characters such as this woman. Would I be on a jury I'd request the judge if the jury could sue her for wasting our time/ money with nuisance complaints. Bet he'd laugh hard too!
Take a trip to Walmart, their scooters are almost exclusively occupied by the morbidly obese. Once I saw someone with actual paraplegic condition, another was a young man with broken ankle, another time someone with MS type symptoms. The rest were morbidly obese. I do not know what made them all what they are (actual thyroid cases being so rare), but they are factually morbidly obese. This story comes to mind... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_...4%E2%80%931991). He could not have continued his self destructive behavior if not for a whole cast of people enabling him all along. Yes, he was sick. Emotionally sick which created a medical condition that otherwise wouldn't exist. Our gov't programs are simply not geared to deal with soft science criteria.
When it comes to public funds, it IS factually my money, the nature of those programs is concomitant with being at the mercy of public sentiment. I'm adamantly opposed to buying any version of a bottle for a drunk. I think most citizens are charitable and mean to keep programs like disability and social security going, but I also know that for some cases what we're calling help has had the opposite effect of perpetuating or exacerbating disease.
Perfect world, there would be a cure for all ills. Perfect world without cure alls, we'd be enabling people to adapt to life, approach self sufficiency & restore dignity to the greatest extent possible. How do we get there from here when those without self respect leech onto gov't programs for the purpose of perpetuating their self destructive & costly habits? What adjustments need to be made?
I see some of you all getting defensive about my post, must be guilt. The neighbor I am talking about....is on disability for having a so called "bad back". If you can perform everyday tasks like yard work, installing above ground swimming pools, dig a huge mound of dirt, remove & replace the a/c compressor on your car..? You do not deserve social security benefits!!
I'm on your side here - it's not fair that people should get disability when they can perform equal type tasks. Not fair to the many who are working and have to pay for cheaters. People can claim it is the companies that are injured and not the employees - but bottom line is that we all pay for it either directly or indirectly.
Years ago I took a class for an insurance license - about fell off my chair when the instructor bragged about how she knew how to manipulate the system. She had helped her son get disability (questionable qualifications for it) - he was a young man in his 20's and looked like he was set for life getting Soc Sec disability. She was so proud that they were working the system. I wanted to slap her.
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