We are afflicted as a nation with terrible risks. Despite OSHA, despite workplace education, Americans are becoming disabled.
The Social Security Administration has released the grim statistics: over 8.7 million Americans are disabled. That is one out of 16 working Americans.
In 1967, this figure was one out of 65.
This increase tells us either that federal safety programs, though increasing the costs of doing business, have been a total failure, or else that free money from the government creates disabled people. Or maybe it is a combination of both.
The free market responds. If the government pays people who are disabled, it pays for people to become disabled. We have seen this before. If the government pays to eliminate rodents, and proof of elimination to to bring in a pair of rodent ears, entrepreneurs will breed rodents, kill them, and cut off their ears. The government pays people to kill rodents, and that is what people do. Bureaucrats may say, “This is not what we had in mind.” It does not matter what they had in mind. What matters is the system of rewards.
When the government announces, “You will never have to go to work again if you are disabled,” entrepreneurs hear this loud and clear.
You may be thinking, “This guy is heartless. Why, he is comparing crooks who cheat the government with people who are suffering disabilities.” Yes, I am.
You may think that I am being unfair. You may think that I am exaggerating. To deal with your skepticism, I tested my theory. (Never say I am not a true scientist.) I did a Google search for these words: ears government bounty. At the top of the list is a page from the Social Security Administration. The page says Social Security Disability Help. We read: “Answer the following questions for a free disability evaluation: ” The second link on the list is an ad from a law firm that helps people enroll in the Social Security disability program. As humorist Dave Barry used to say, “I am not making this up.”
If you increase demand for anything by rewarding the results of something to be avoided, the result will be an increase of the thing to be avoided. This is basic to price theory. It’s all about supply and demand.
If you want more disability, just get the government to pay for it.
SS Disability is very attractive to low-skilled workers, especially in these times (fewer people want to employ them).
It takes years to get, but once you hire an attorney and wait for the process to complete you are guaranteed a modest monthly cash stipend for the rest of your life (unlike private insurers, no one from the federal government ever checks back up on you).
You are then eligible for a whole host of government benefits, including Medicare and those 'free' cellphones so heavily advertised on TV.
Off topic a bit:
I was ruled to be 80% disbled when I came out of the US Army in 2001. I was (and am) able bodied, college degreed, and willing to work, which I did and have. But, when I visited the VA and told them I was NOT disbled, they told me "if you ever get off disability you will never get on it later, if and when you need it."
Got that?
Once you're "disabled" on paper, you must never get off it. Ever.
Now, I was not a Dr. North reader at the time, but I'm a pretty conservative guy, fiscally, so I took that $1,600 a month and bought gold. It was about $280 an ounce then. I've been doing it ever since… Lived off my wages, and invested the rest in gold, then silver when gold got too expensive. And guns. And food. And a Jeep that's EMP-proof.
Just sayin'.
The free ride is why Obama will win. Romney is right about the 47% who get a pass on income tax and they like it. Many would pay a little with a flat tax and oppose it strongly. Disability should be for a definite time period and then you have to qualify again. Many are temporarily disabled butc ontinue to ride for life. You want a real joke look at all the able bodies with handicapped license plates.
The only real problem with being 'disabiled' is that a physical problem can prevent someone from doing lifting & carrying & such. But The BIG SHOTS think the problem goes all the way to the brain. That's why some people can NOT get a job.
I used the same seach words….ears government bounty…..and didn't get anything similar whatsoever. I tried 3 times too and got nothing from a government.
Ears government bounty???
The parasites are life unworthy of life. We know what to do with their kind. Think of all the jobs there are to come building and running the ovens.
"no one from the federal government ever checks back up on you"
You are wrong. I'm disabled and I get checked on every few years. Since mine is genetic and there is no cure, not sure why they spend money checking on me. Anyway, you get 'checked up on' pretty regular. I had to get on disability back in 1998. I have had 3 or 4 reviews since that time. Sometimes it is me signing a statement that my condition is the same but I have also had to go to a Doctor and have him document my condition.
So, what you say is wrong and I know that for a fact. You do get 'checked on'. The people may lie and may even have a Doctor that lies but they do get checked on.
If something ever happens and you can't take care of yourself, I wonder if you will feel the same way.