Scary Economy... Are spectrum people more vulnerable?

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ive been homeless before and im shure i'll be homeless again at some point in my life. it doesnt really bother me exept i dont like being dirty

I am so often so disappointed with aspies. We are supposed to be intelligent. (the definition includes the general standard of no cognitive imparement). We are supposed to be less socially involved.

And yet, the greatest number of our ranks believe every piece of education system and media foisted orthodoxy hurled at them - just like everyone else. Our ranks are full of people who conform to the current orthodoxy and have accepted all and wuestioned nothing.

TLPG or whomever wrote


It is definitely a valid concern - as the job market shrinks, competition increases and little things that don't usually make a difference suddenly become a deciding factor.

I've always believed the United States is way too reliant on free enterprise and the private sector. It costs lives for a start (you only have to look at the lame reaction to Hurricane Katrina for proof of that!) and increases poverty in general as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

This is why the US needs the Democrats back in the Whitehouse. Bill Clinton may have his critics, but if I recall correctly he put taxes up on the rich. It didn't make him very popular with big business, but he made sure the tax hikes showed something. Bush did completely the opposite and it's why the US is facing a recession as we speak.

It's funny (not the laughing kind) but in Australia we have a similar issue with tax cuts. It was intended to encourage saving, but people spent instead and pushed up inflation, and consequently interest rates - killing the benefits of the tax cuts for the middle classes.

The price of oil is really the fault of oil producers - mostly from Saudi Arabia. They know that global warming is a threat to their hip pockets and they are pushing prices up to counter that - knowing that we aren't yet ready to switch to other fuels, and maybe trying to get the regular person to go back to oil and forget global warming (pipe dream on the Saudi's part!).

In the US, they need more rail services and make the existing ones safer (New York for example). If private enterprise won't foot the bill, the government has to. Here in Victoria, Australia, we've spent a huge amount of money on rail infrastructure - and people flooded to the trains. So much so it overloaded the system! And an Aspie like me who prefers some room on the train isn't very happy about it either right now - although I understand why it's happened and so forth.

Sorry for the long rant, but this struck a number of pet subjects of mine!


Great. Government must be the producer of wealth. I want something but cannot afford it and so I want it free. So long as someone else buys it, it is free. Yeaaaa, I am an aspie and I need communism! Yeaaa Marx!

Holy Ned.

That's socialism, Nutbag (what an appropriate username) not communism! And what's wrong with it, hmmmm? The government is the one who makes policy and law, right? So they have the power to regulate money. They have to because they have to have revenue to run the country - no matter what country it is.

Now then - are you saying that anyone who can not function to an appropriate level (for whatever the reason) should be abandoned?? Looks to me like you are, and that's pathetic if so!

Reduce the function level requirement. Now - try to enforce that on private enterprise. They'll run a mile. So who has to pick up the tab for it? It can only be the government. So take your communism tag and shove it. This is socialism and we need more of it!

Well, I suppose it varies. While being only 18, I have yet to do so much as put in an application I do have an uncle with AS who has never had to much problem with unemployment.

Of course the economy is about to hit a massive bump in the road when global oil production peaks and the demand beings to exceed production. Some studies suggest that this could occur as soon as 2010. Whether or not this will affect people on the autistic spectrum more than NTs is tough to say. But it will impact everything, make no mistake.

Right now our country is built up in such a way that a car is necessary. It would be nice if our cities could be made more bicycle-friendly.

I don't own a car and can get most places on either the bus or the subway. I can even walk home if need be.

unfortunately this is not the case in some areas (although I would never live somewhere without a good public transportation system)

It isn't the case in most of the US. I love the way I can get around without a car when I am in the Netherlands, where I have relatives. But at home, near San Francisco but not in San Francisco, I HAVE to have a car. Fortunately, we've been able to build lives that do not require a lot of driving; both my husband and I have offices within a mile of home.

I guess I agree conceptually with discouraging people from driving, but things just aren't built that way. Public transportation, plus walk-friendly/bike friendly streets or paths, have to be part of the infrastructure from the start, really, to work well. It most places it has not been. It becomes difficult to change, because you can't ask people to get out of their cars unless there are viable and efficient alternatives, and government is not going to dedicate resources to build those alternatives unless there is a dedicated volume of users. Saying that the gas taxes et al will fund those alternatives has not proved to work very well in many areas. Not something I have an answer for, unfortunately.

Fortunately York, PA has a pretty good bus system -Rabbit Transit that runs just about everywhere I need to go to and the
buses have bicycle racks installed on the front ends that can hold two bikes.
I am thinking about getting a scooter for longer distance traveling. A car typically takes 40% of your time and effort to
support and maintain and yet you only use it 5% of the time.... Not economically smart.

I am really sad, btw, to read how many people here have experienced being homeless, and accept that it may happen again.

It is the usual scam. I have lived through a few.

When the WWII generation was dying off, leaving a pile of money, the tech bubble, double your money overnight, it ran till there was no more loose cash, then poof! It was gone, wonder where that money went?

Before that, looting the Savings and Loans, suddenly allowed to make high risk investments, and poof! It was gone, and the government printed more money.

Years before, when the War Babies started buying houses, 17% interest, and rising, so buy now or never. Dont forget credit cards, spend your money the new plastic way, only 1.7% a month, plus fees.

40,000,000 war babies saving for retirement, their main investment their home, which will always go up, low down, low interest, double your money, buy huge.

When no more could be sold, equity loans, free money, buy two SUV's, gas is only $1.

So people who invested all in a home, owning only 5% or less, borrowed on rising values, now find prices drop faster than rise. ARM's are kicking in, and no money, or equity ownership to refinance.

The $40 fillup has become $160, with Utility surcharges, heating, cooling, lights, $2000 to $3000 a month, and two pay checks are all that keeps them out of the street.

Their real money was in the market, always goes up, and now they owe what is left on the house. They are 45 to 60, so they stay and pay. They rented a life, for a while, now they know debt seritude.

Any large pile of money is a target, and laws change so it can be worked.

Government has grown to almost half the vote, so they elected and police themselves.

If oil can go from $13 to over $100, gold to $900, a loaf of bread can be $25.

So vote for Sally and Bobby, they will bring back team spirit. Elections are over, it does not matter who wins, you lose.

Who is paying for the 12 Billion a month war? State and Federal employees do not pay into Social Security, think they know something?

The government produces nothing, but is growing and getting rich.

New Orleans is your future.

Uneconomical economy topic

The point of this forum is to note whether spectrum people are more vulnerable to the scary economy out there, regardless of whether or not someone has a party affiliation, or believes that elected government should help the unfortunate or not.

The reality is that marginalized persons and groups are at risk. Anyone who is not beautiful, undistressed, employed full time at a reasonable wage, lucky-smart, white, intelligent, rich, brave, able-bodied and the like can become poor and/or homeless.

I do not believe in blame of selective victims. The fact that people bought homes with minimum amount of money means that people wanted to have a home of their own. I did the same. I owned one for 13 years. I was very careful with money. I sold it when I became unemployed for longer than three months, the longest time of unemployment in ten years. I earned a small profit on the property but when my unemployment insurance and the profit are used up, I will be homeless.

I do not have credit cards. I do not live above my means. Never did. But I was always one paycheque away from economic disaster, despite careful budgeting.

I am physically uncoordinated, and jobs are difficult for me to retain. I am slow and cannot multitask, which means I am not an asset to employers and mainstream business. I have no prowess to create a small business. I went through eleven jobs last year, trying to earn enough money to support not only myself but my two children as well. Now I will have to try for a disability. The money from the house and the unemployment insurance will soon be gone. I now have a part-time job which nets me 75 dollars per week maximum. How can I support three people on this? The job itself is temporary. I certainly cannot afford health insurance.

I do not like asking for a disability pension but I do not want to be homeless with two teenagers.

Vulnerable people do need assistance, and there are those far, far more needy than I am.

I'm employed, but only on a temporary basis. It's unpredictable right now. I worry because I'm unaware of office politics and have been booted before for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.