by Jack Bragen
There is a trapdoor at the bottom of society’s mechanisms, that throws out people onto the street who can’t perform well enough to mind the details or keep pace with the rat race. A person can fall through it due to a massive amount of bad luck.
For people with disabilities, the system of benefits as it currently exists makes it very hard to work and earn enough money to survive without losing your benefits. If you are determined to live better, you could be causing a risk to yourself.
If you want to live, you need money. If you want to live well, you need a lot of money. That doesn’t speak to what we consider right and wrong. It’s merely an observation.
Our society works as it does because there are people in power who want it to be this way. Corporate America, politicians and billionaires have probably had discussions among themselves about how they want everything to work. My best guess is that there is consensus and collusion among the powerful.
What can ordinary, low-income, disabled people do about this? Answer: almost nothing. We have to keep ourselves clear of the trapdoors into which the unwary fall to meet their destruction. To avoid these trapdoors, forethought helps, but no one can predict the future.
In the past, we’ve seen a semblance of a balance of power between us and them. Up until this point, it has been very hard to keep clear of the trapdoor. We have trapdoors at the bottom because the architects of society want it that way. They want to have a system in which people can be readily disposed of.
Your physical survival is on the line if you are living on disability income. And if you want to get a job, even one that you could reasonably do, you could find yourself locked out. And this is for numerous reasons.
Most companies don’t want to deal with the perceived risk of hiring someone with a disability. If you have a disability and people at your job are aware of it, they will treat you as “the disabled person” and underestimate your intelligence. And this is not the worst thing that can happen.
Simply put, the social services system is designed to either keep you down or get rid of you entirely. The tiny amount of money they give you to live on is in jeopardy if you try to obtain work to better your circumstances. Health insurance is the biggest hook. Transitioning to a new job—and with it, a higher income—can mean losing previously covered prescriptions and medications.
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I was recently at the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my license. As I stood in the line that had formed at 7:30 a.m., someone asked me why I was there. When I responded, “driver’s license renewal,” the person let out a sarcastic chortle. Apparently, I don’t look smart enough to deal with the DMV. What is it about me that I attract jerks with sadistic agendas?
It can be difficult to come back from losing your driver’s license or auto insurance. Each depends on the other. If you don’t have a driver’s license, you can’t get auto insurance. If you don’t have auto insurance, it’s difficult to get or renew your license.
If you want to have a job, whether you drive or don’t drive, you must have a valid identification such as a driver’s license or state ID. This is in addition to a Social Security card or some other proof of eligibility to work in the U.S.
Lack of identification can cause a multitude of problems, often with a cascading effect. Without valid identification, you can’t collect government benefits. To obtain an ID, you normally need a stable address. To obtain a job or housing, you often need identification. If you lack a valid ID, the trapdoor can be triggered quickly.
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We are looking at a complete change in government. In January 2025, Republicans— especially the most conservative ones—will have control of all branches of the federal government: the presidency, both houses of Congress, and the U.S. Supreme Court. I’m sure they have plans of what they would like to see—but it may not go as planned, I’m guessing.
With the advent of Donald Trump, again, Americans will have fewer personal freedoms. And the demands on us will be greater. It will be much harder for a disabled person to get by, and we have to gear up for that.
A politician like Trump, who can convince the masses of anything he wants them to believe, could not have been predicted or anticipated 20 years ago. With Trump again in power, no doubt we will have more of a downward pull toward the trapdoor. We might need to put up quite an effort for a while when our income and housing is endangered.
Trump ushers in the fear of falling through a much bigger, badder, and more lubricated trapdoor. For people near or at the bottom, fear is an unhappy feeling to have. But if you’re not afraid, maybe something is wrong with you.
Jack Bragen lives and writes in Martinez, California. He is the author of Instruction for Dealing with Schizophrenia: A Self-Help Manual and other books.
