Who Do You Think They Are?

     I thought I would pick up where I left off yesterday. Workers of society, who contribute their part to the economy, often look upon non-workers who receive benefits through the state, with their money, as lazy, immoral, incompetent individuals who live off the backs of others. It sounds harsh, but many people feel that way, or at least partly. Perhaps not all the adjectives. It's not an assumption, but what I've heard and read. I'm one of those people. I almost didn't qualify for DSHS because I wanted to attend school. They saw that if I could attend school, I could work, and if I could work, even part-time, then I wasn't eligible for benefits. I wouldn't get any benefits through part-time work and then would have to pay full price for health insurance, which, especially with my health problems, would cost more than what I would make. This is before the ACA went into effect. I couldn't work full-time, and I wanted to attend school. I told the powers that be that I couldn't even attend school full-time and my doctor wrote a letter that I was unable to work. Yes, some people choose to live off the system when they're quite capable of working and could possibly find a job if they applied themselves. Those are very few. Still, many reasons stand why a person is unable to work. A single mother who has few resources. She can't find, or isn't qualified, for a job that pays enough to cover childcare and all other expenses. On the news an anchor said that childcare can cost more than a mortgage payment. She can't attend school, because she runs into the same problem and can't afford it. She finds herself stuck in this limbo of wanting to work, but has no options. A person gets severely injured and can't go back to his or her job, ever. I know someone like that. That is what she went to school for, trained for, knows. She doesn't qualify for other work. Right now, going to school isn't an option for her, and she couldn't afford it. There are parts of the system that people who haven't experienced it could possibly know. A company closes and they're employees simply can't find work. It may take months, even years. Working people may find that hard to believe, but it's true. I also know someone in that situation. He tried to start his own business, but it was unsuccessful, like thousands of small businesses.

     Is it human nature to want to feel superior to another? To feel like they're better than another one? Or do they simply see, without searching, a perceived default in another human being, and it makes them better? Like people who don't work and they do. When people have talked about those who receive government benefits, I feel like they think they're better than me. Although they don't always know I'm one of them. They think they're a valuable asset to society, and those who don't work are insignificant. I don't think all people feel that way. It is impossible to put myself in the position of how I would feel if I never used benefits provided by the government. I'd think I wasn't better than them at all, but I'm biased. Maybe I'd feel that way anyway. Maybe it's just in some people's nature to feel that they're better than others. Or they think they're better off, and that very well may be true, or not. If they think they're better off, does that mean they think they're better than the other person? They feel they're more fortunate. If they feel more fortunate, then do they pity those less fortunate? If they pity someone, does that mean they think they're better? I'm glad I'm not paralyzed, missing an arm, or have Down syndrome. I don't feel sorry for the people who have a physical disability. I haven't decided how I feel about people with a mental disability, such Down, or more severe mental disabilities. I'm glad when I see people with Down working. Not so much that they're doing their part for society, but that they're able to hold down a job that may be harder for them than others. It gives them confidence. You can see it in their face. But more severe disabilities...I would be sad to not be able to do the things I can, like write this blog. If the disabled never had it, then they don't miss it. But that's not the question I'm asking myself. Do I pity them? I pity the person who once had normal mental ability, and lost it. It really depends on the situation. I saw a documentary on a child, about seven, who would never have the mental capability beyond that of a three-month-old. I pitied her. That she would never have experiences that most of us do. She would simply subsist until the end of her days. I'm more fortunate than her, but not more valuable to society or the human race. Not because I don't work, but that she's still my equal as a human. This is what I think I no.