I am tired of this trendy smashing of the weak

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I've spotted a trend the past 5 years. I've been active on internet boards and reading news since... 2000. It certainly was there 5 years ago and before, but not to the extend
I see it today:

The hatred, the smashing in the face of the weak people in society. Those on welfare benefits, you know.

This is not a WP issue, although I will draw attention to my earlier post about Conscription, whereby people are demanding that
those unfit for military should serve in some other way. This is a general trend that I have spotted in society, in every European or Westernized country.

From the demanding of forced labor (conscription, mandatory community service etc.) to cutting down on welfare benefits for the worst off (the unemployed genuinly seeking labor,
or those who genuinly cannot work).

Then, these same people use to point out that "if you genuinly cannot work, you should of course recieve benefits, if you GENUINLY cannot work".
Fine, fine, fine! But their standards of of the "genuinly needy" is either very strict, limiting it to those who are paralyzed from the neck down, or in ANY case
they absolutely refuse to reckognize mental issues, no matter how severe, should enjoy any benefits.

I do not wish this to be a discussion about the Welfare Benefits as such. If we can agree there should be Welfare Benefits for the worst off and genuinly needy or whatever you use to describe them,
and/or we can agree that if there should be conscription, the genuinly needy should not serve in the military, nor in forced community service, if we can agree on this,
I think we can proceed to the actual definition of the "genuinly needy".

Of course there are lazy people out there. They will always be there.
There will be fakers too.

While it is true that mental issues may seem easier to fake, or IS easier to fake than physical illness, depending on the mental issues in question,
is it fair to deprive those people of their benefits and exemptions for that reason?

What about those who did not fake it and truely do have permanent issues to the degree they cannot work
(work as in providing for yourself with enough income to function normally in society)?

Surely nearly every society needed to cut down on welfare these years.
From Greece to Denmark, every country has cut its welfare.

But I am not speaking about cutting welfare. It costs money continuing reviewing and reassessing individuals who are entitled to permanent benefits and exemptions due to documented permanent issues (physical as well as mental). It costs money too to demand forced labor, in contrast to just letting people do what they think.

Yet, governments are actually targetting and prioritizing money and resources targetting to make life as harsh as possible for the worst off.
And it is not like the government is "only doing what is neccessary". These governments are western democracies, and they are merely responding to a general trend in society.

A couple of years ago, I read in the newspapers that physically ill in wheelchairs got yelled at, accussed of being THE reason for the Economic Crisis.
And a disabled woman's car was smashed to pieces.

This is a general trend. I think it is an unhealthy trend. In the 1970's the trend was the opposite: Compassion and sympathy for those unemployed or disabled or sick.
Today the trend is hatred towards these groups of people.

Aspies are no exception. As you can see in my thread 'Conscription', most people in that thread demanded everything from forced labor to actual military training and the use of the handicapped as cannon fodder.

The Trend follows these sayings:

If you cannot work, you are not a worthy member of society.

If you cost more to society than you can contribute, you are not a worthy member of society.

If you are disabled (physically) you will have to do alternative service in contrast to military service.

If you have psychiatric issues, you are just faking it all.

There exists not psychiatric issues other than pure laziness. The few that does exists, can be cured with adequate medical drugs.

You are not a entitled to personal integrity if you cost more to society than you can give back.

------

Do you see the unfairness, the evilness in this post? No?
But I do!

Yup. And you would expect that on a forum for a major disability like autism, you would get some understanding. Instead you get that same sort of thing as Aspie supremacy, where those autistics who can work demean those who can't work enough to fully support themselves. Apparently their view is, If I can work, then every autistic should be able to work, period. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying and I don't care what evidence is presented. (I guess in this case, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.)

I am autistic and I can work to support myself fully, but I recognize that not all, even most, autistics are not like that and cannot and I have compassion for them. I see my day-to-day difficulties of living with autism and I know that were they more pronounced, if I came under a lot more stress so that I could not ruminate to resolve issues of perplexity, if I could not find a job like the one I currently have, then I would have a lot of trouble and would be in difficult straits. In fact, I am afraid of losing this job.

Because of all this, I think compassion is the key, and not just for autism, but for all other psychiatric disabilities as well.

I suspect that those "suffering" from "aspie supremacy demeaning those who cannot work", the autistics who can work to provide for themselves,
do not *really* qualify for the new autistic diagnostic criteria. Probably that's why they were made in the first place, to ensure the well-functioning people do not get a wrong diagnosis.

The key of autism is the lack of empathy. But another important key issue of Autism is that autistics do not conform to trends.

I doubt so many of these supposed aspies on WrongPlanet.net would show this hatred towards the mentally disabled, if it was not for this trend in society.

They're conforming. That's the worst part of it, and it tells me and it should tell experts, that anyone conforming to trends in society for the reason "it is trendy" does not qualify for the criteria of autism.
There are many criteria, but the inability to conform is the most important of Autism.

I'd like to know how some members in this forum would react if they were part of North Korea or China or other countries where they indoctrinate people.
Would they conform? If so, would they conform for the fear of losing their lives, or would they actually conform because they genuinly think this is the right thing?

I agree and its scary. Almost everyone follows whatever the media tells them as anything written in good English looks like it has an authority to it and so people believe it all. It gives people a reason to feel superior too that's why they love reading it and bashing people on benefits.

Actually, I was recently reevaluated and I do meet the new diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder, both for social communication and repetitive and restricted behaviors and interests. I can also work to support myself. My severity is, of course, mild.

Let's not turn this around and start invalidating people's diagnoses and identities.

No, of course, sorry.

I have negative feelings toward people who feel that being disadvantaged means they should be entitled to free services. It's a feeling of resentment that what I work to produce is forcefully taken from me in order to provide free services to someone else. I have no issue whatsoever with providing voluntary assistance to other people, but it's infuriating when those same people feel that they are entitled to plunder the fruits of my labor. I have compassion and I have empathy, but they are feelings that convert rapidly to resentment in the face of contempt.

This resentment is not "superiority" or bigotry.

If you don't want to pay taxes for things, then go to Somalia, a veritable libertarian paradise.

That IS the scary attitude. So instead you expect them to rot, solves everything I guess, and when you become handicapped the same could happen to you. Then everyone else gets to resent you for feeling 'entitlement' for just wanting to survive.

This is too depressing already.

And this is the contempt of which I speak. It's upsetting to you that you don't get support and understanding for your struggles, but you express contempt toward those that you expect to be supportive and understanding. Why should I be happy to pay for supporting you when you have this attitude?

When confronted with this type of response, it would be a very natural response for me to express "hatred, the smashing in the face of the weak people in society". Perhaps this will help clarify why thinkinginpictures is witnessing a trend of negative attitudes toward disadvantaged people.

Who said I was looking for support?

Life has taught me more than one lesson about that.

I used to believe in the non-welfare model, until I realized I couldn't.

Today I worry not only about the mentally handicapped autists, but all mentally ill, those with other diagnoses than me, and physically handicapped too, and even
healthy unemployed people have my sympathy.

Yup. ADB better hope that if he becomes disabled that all of society would not have already developed his attitude. He may think things are good for him right now, but boy oh boy.

Social safety nets are very important.

Distaste for being forced to support someone is not equivalent to expecting that he or she should "rot". They are unrelated concepts.

If I become handicapped in a manner that makes me unable to sustain myself, I will express gratitude and appreciation to those who want to help me. I will not feel entitled to support from people who don't want to help me.

That's interesting.

So if your caregivers who give you support express a certain political opinion that you would otherwise disagree with, would you conform to those ideas of your caregivers, in order to
express your deepest gratitude and appreciation? Do you *really* want to become so dependent on other people that you have no say in your own life?

Because that is what happens when people's benefits are closely tied to private matters, instead of public goods which we can "take for granted" in terms of welfare rights.

That IS THE idea of Welfare Rights: To become independent of private charity offers to keep our personal integrity, regardless of disability.