venetia_sassy | Days of rage and incoherence (Reply)

Mmm, so I haven't posted for a few days which was partly due to headaches and trouble with sleeping but also because on Thursday, I read an article about the Opposition Leader's proposed welfare reforms for the long-term unemployed and the disabled. I was so enraged and upset I was almost in tears. I thought about posting with specific quotes from the article and why they were so utterly stupid but I couldn't write anything that didn't descend into a profanity-laden screed pretty quickly. Which is basically what those proposals deserve but I don't think anyone on my flist needs to read that.

Anyway, I thought I'd wait to see what the responses were and was pleasantly surprised. While there was a strong dose of 'BOOTSTRAPS!' (if you've ever witnessed welfare wank, you know what I mean) from the conservative corners, the majority of editorials and letters seemed to be a combination of:

"Just how stupid and short-sighted are you?"
"Oh for fuck's sake, not again."
"Planning on kicking a few puppies and sending some widows and orphans to the workhouse, are you?"

That was rather refreshing.

I would dearly love to be able to work, to travel, to have relationships, to have a somewhat 'normal' life. Instead, I face the prospect of being disabled by chronic illness for years to come, possibly for the rest of my life. My efforts to force myself to act 'healthy' and to be a 'productive member of society' led to my worst relapse and today my overall health is lower than it was before said relapse. I could maybe, maybe do a couple of hours office work a couple of times a week (and you sure as hell can't live on that). That's if it was close to home, the weather was cooperating, I didn't get a cold, didn't have a bad night, etc, etc, etc. And this is why I don't do volunteer work, either. I am not reliable. That is not my choice but it is reality. And being insulted and sneered at by people who have no compassion and no fucking idea what it's like really doesn't help. At all.

I think my favourite letter (and there were some good ones) was this one:

It's a cheap shot to demonise those on sickness benefits

In my experience, avoiding the need to take up Centrelink sickness benefits or the disability pension requires a salary high enough before the illness or accident to bed down some decent savings, a family that will support you, take you in and cover out-of-pocket medical expenses and enough savvy regarding financial products to arrange appropriate health and income protection insurance (''Take dole away in boom areas, Abbott says'', March 31).

These circumstances apply to a very lucky few. We should be thankful that our society has a safety net for those who are not so lucky, even if it is a paltry $670.90 a fortnight.

Demonising those on benefits as ''untreated'' malingerers is unfair and, in my experience, wrong. Most would love a chance to work, increase their income and develop the sense of self that comes from working.

Christine Cupitt Hornsby

Thank you, Christine.

This was a positively sedate post compared to what I've been writing in my head the last few days. I think I'm remembering how to breathe now.