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while i am still waiting on SSI reform/the death of the state as we know it, this is gonna save so many people and i'm desperately afraid the legislature will fuck this up
if you're super involved in Minimum Wage Discourse rn, i implore you to dedicate the same energy to this.
https://twitter.com/jmartinwrites/status/1349921639312535563
if you're super involved in Minimum Wage Discourse rn, i implore you to dedicate the same energy to this.
https://twitter.com/jmartinwrites/status/1349921639312535563
cw ableism
if you're new to disability struggle, welcome! also, get the fuck to work! this thread is an extremely basic overview of how disabled people are economically fucked over in the U.S. (particularly those who don't pass as abled).
if you're new to disability struggle, welcome! also, get the fuck to work! this thread is an extremely basic overview of how disabled people are economically fucked over in the U.S. (particularly those who don't pass as abled).
it may shock you to hear that OP isn't exaggerating: i's legal to pay disabled people subminimum wage if "earning or productive capacity is impaired by a physical or mental disability, including those related to age or injury, for the work to be performed" https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/subminimumwage
in other words, if you don't pass as abled in some way, it doesn't matter if Biden makes min. wage $15/hr or $500/hr. employers can squeeze as much labor as they want out of you for next to nothing bc they can legally claim your work is worth less
gov't-funded disability employment programs (esp. private-public partnerships) are frequently just a way to funnel disabled ppl into sheltered workshops: segregated work spaces where you perform menial work for pennies in the guise of "vocational training" https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahkim/2019/10/24/sub-minimum-wages-disability/?sh=8296cdec22be
one employer particularly infamous for this is Goodwill. Land of Lincoln Goodwill almost got away with paying its disabled workers LITERALLY NOTHING in 2019, claiming that their work "really was not a job" and their paycheck was given "through grace" https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-land-of-lincoln-goodwill-paychecks-20190717-hetdhbwr65d7hot6zwpjb2rtum-story.html
...as though it were an act of charity. (if you take nothing else away from this thread, stop shopping at/donating to Goodwill. these shitty practices are not exclusive to Lincoln and your old stuff is better off going to unhoused people, a Buy Nothing group, or the garbage bin)
"wait, can't disabled people just get their income from social security benefits anyway?"
this is what i was alluding to earlier. disability benefits for unemployed ppl, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is an absolute joke based on outdated stats and ableist rhetoric
this is what i was alluding to earlier. disability benefits for unemployed ppl, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is an absolute joke based on outdated stats and ableist rhetoric
for one thing, your disability needs to be recognized by the state (i.e., you need to be considered "disabled") and "hard medical evidence" that it impedes your ability to work. i don't think i need to explain why the US govt may not be super charitable in making this assessment
you also need to prove that you have "limited income" and "limited resources", the threshold for which is very low-- we'll get to this later. if you manage to make your way through the red tape and get those checks, you need to stay eligible to receive them.
we don't have all day to get into the details, but here's a few basic things that can disqualify you from receiving SSI:
1) you lose your citizenship. (oh yeah you have to be a citizen btw)
2) you are convicted of a crime.
1) you lose your citizenship. (oh yeah you have to be a citizen btw)
2) you are convicted of a crime.
3) you get married and you and your spouse have more than $3,000 in combined assets.
4) you have $2,000 in personal assets, including your home, car, or "anything else you own that could be converted to cash and used for food or shelter." https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm
4) you have $2,000 in personal assets, including your home, car, or "anything else you own that could be converted to cash and used for food or shelter." https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm
that's right! while we've been stressing out over how the hell we're going to live on $2,000, disabled people on SSI have been forced to do this for YEARS! this number is based on the federal poverty line, which was $12,760 per year for individuals in 2020.
"what? that's way too low! where the hell did we get that number?"
the formula the govt uses to calculate the federal poverty line was introduced in the mid 1960s, and we've known it's useless as an actual measure of poverty since the early 90s. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/beyond_the_poverty_line
the formula the govt uses to calculate the federal poverty line was introduced in the mid 1960s, and we've known it's useless as an actual measure of poverty since the early 90s. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/beyond_the_poverty_line
and yet so many programs depend on it to calculate eligibility thresholds: SSI, food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance...
it's hard to see this as an accident when the US govt has spent the past 40~ years trying to convince us that social services are a shameful aberration
it's hard to see this as an accident when the US govt has spent the past 40~ years trying to convince us that social services are a shameful aberration
this is all but a small slice of how capitalism pushes disabled people to the margins to die. there's a lot more to cover: how the ADA doesn't really guarantee the inclusion of disabled workers, how our concept of intrinsic self-worth shouldn't be based on ability to work...
as someone who often passes as abled* and didn't really engage w/ this until relatively recently (internalized ableism, insulating economic/racial privilege, ignorance), i still have a lot to learn but i hope i've made the point that disability should be central to labor struggle
*this is not to say that invisible disability doesn't come with its own oppressions, but when people see you as potentially economically valuable you're often shielded from the dehumanization that people with intellectual disabilities/certain physical disabilities are subject to
want more reading on anti-capitalist disability justice, with a greater focus on intersectionality and what a post-capitalist world could look like for disabled people? here's a reading list compiled by @thellpsx https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/550135937/1377742587
follow these lovely people for more holistic insight on disability justice (many of my follows are autism/adhd-specific, so more recommendations are welcome): @thellpsx @lilririah @BlackDisability @ekverstania @twitchyspoonie @blkgirllostkeys @MorenikeGO @Imani_Barbarin
@BlackAutistics @sinsinvalid @autistichoya @SFdirewolf @barisanhantu @A_Silent_Child @earthnamek @QueerlyAutistic @adrparsons @stevenspohn @autselfadvocacy @PDXAccessible and probably countless others, my brain is turning into static after writing all this
also remember that disabled people are counting on you to be serious about the pandemic because hospitals are making decisions to prioritize abled people in triage and i will RUIN you if I you bring any pro-eugenics arguments into my mentions ok byeeee https://www.vox.com/first-person/2020/4/4/21204261/coronavirus-covid-19-disabled-people-disabilities-triage
