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I certainly didn't assume you're incompetent. I was a little baffled by your initial complaint about people who want to raise the working conditions for people

by Frondo 11y ago

I certainly didn't assume you're incompetent. I was a little baffled by your initial complaint about people who want to raise the working conditions for people who take ad-hoc labor, like you. You said you "worry" about them, that you can't take a regular job, and so on. Great, fine, I certainly don't want you to have to take a regular job. I think it's great if you can work a few hours here, pick up a few extra bucks as your health permits, and so on. I have no interest in taking that away from you. I doubt very many people do, unless it's to slough off the work onto people who are more economically hard up than you. I was, however, baffled by your implication that the way things are now (you making an average of $12 an hour with ad-hoc work, instead of some larger amount) is the best things can be. I think you're wrong about that, but it is, of course, certainly true if we insist that everything's as good as it can be. And you're right, there's no magic money solution. Basic income is one, and there's several different models that get tossed around, including just cutting everyone a check (so hey, you make the $12/hour patched together on top of the basic income). But if you think I'm arguing because I think you're a dumb cripple or whatever, no, get over it, I'm arguing because you typed some otherwise thoughtful stuff and I just don't agree with all of it.

Mz 11y ago
Well, I have upvoted you, but: I was, however, baffled by your implication that the way things are now (you making an average of $12 an hour with ad-hoc work, instead of some larger amount) is the best things can be. I do not assume that is the best things can be. You appear to have done so in your first reply to me and are apparently still doing so. I spelled out in substantial detail how I can and am improving my earnings, both in absolute terms (total take) and relative (hourly wage). You haven't engaged those points at all. Edit: I apologize if I sound snappish. It isn't intentional. I am currently mired in an argument with someone else who is, in fact, being very dismissive. It is possible that is negatively influencing my remark here, without me consciously realizing it.
- Frondo 11y ago
  I don't mean to intentionally misunderstand you. I really do appreciate your patience, though, and willingness to engage, too, and am sorry if I come across as thick or willfully being a jerk. I actually think it's great how much you're doing, outside the patched-together work, to get your own business/content marketing stuff going. I wish some of the people I knew who were in a similar situation to you (i.e. some disability or another that prevents them from taking regular employ) had your ability to get things done. I wasn't even thinking about them until now, but I just got a linkedin connection request from one of them (and it's like, I know there's no point in them doing it like this, because regular scheduled employ is not in the cards for them, they're just tired of being so poor) and it got me thinking. Let's say, it's not you I'm worried about, it's more for them that I'm concerned. $12 isn't much, but you're already doing stuff to do better. If my friends could do better, though, given their constraints, their lives would be a lot better off for it. Maybe a basic income isn't the answer, but an extra hundred dollars or two a month would go a long way toward improving their quality of life.
  - Mz 11y ago
    Most people like me feel hopeless. They feel it is pointless. They don't see that there will be a payoff. It takes a long time to see a payoff and most of the social messages around them only reinforce the idea that it is hopeless, there isn't really a solution. The American mindset currently is that poor people need basic income or welfare or to win the lottery. I am angry and frustrated and I feel it is taking too long and I don't really want to do this anymore. I spend a lot of time cussing at the sky about how hard it is, how unfair it is, how I deserve better and so on. But I also know what my fate was "supposed to be." I am supposed to be getting about $100k in medical care annually while I steadily deteriorate. My ability to be productive is supposed to be declining, not improving. I am supposed to be either dead or dying a slow gruesome death from problems that doctors do not know how to fix. You might consider checking out my websites and possibly forwarding selected links to the people you are concerned about. I have a homeless blog. I have a food blog where I talk about using food as my medicine. Those might be the most immediately relevant to your concerns. There are things disabled people can do to exercise agency and get small gains in the short term that can be gradually leveraged for larger gains down the road. But they have lost hope. So do not talk to them about big gains down the road and do not talk to them about the scope of their challenges. It only makes them depressed. Instead, if you find an article with concrete small, doable solutions that can benefit them in the here and now, share that in a non pushy way. Then be patient. It may be months before you see evidence of results. But if you get into the habit of forwarding them useful bits periodically, it can slowly change. I apologize if I am overstepping my bounds. I woke up with a fierce headache. Trying to be helpful is a longstanding habit and it is sometimes the wrong thing to do. Have a good day.

by Frondo 11y ago

Mz 11y ago

Well, I have upvoted you, but: I was, however, baffled by your implication that the way things are now (you making an average of $12 an hour with ad-hoc work, instead of some larger amount) is the best things can be. I do not assume that is the best things can be. You appear to have done so in your first reply to me and are apparently still doing so. I spelled out in substantial detail how I can and am improving my earnings, both in absolute terms (total take) and relative (hourly wage). You haven't engaged those points at all. Edit: I apologize if I sound snappish. It isn't intentional. I am currently mired in an argument with someone else who is, in fact, being very dismissive. It is possible that is negatively influencing my remark here, without me consciously realizing it.

Frondo 11y ago
I don't mean to intentionally misunderstand you. I really do appreciate your patience, though, and willingness to engage, too, and am sorry if I come across as thick or willfully being a jerk. I actually think it's great how much you're doing, outside the patched-together work, to get your own business/content marketing stuff going. I wish some of the people I knew who were in a similar situation to you (i.e. some disability or another that prevents them from taking regular employ) had your ability to get things done. I wasn't even thinking about them until now, but I just got a linkedin connection request from one of them (and it's like, I know there's no point in them doing it like this, because regular scheduled employ is not in the cards for them, they're just tired of being so poor) and it got me thinking. Let's say, it's not you I'm worried about, it's more for them that I'm concerned. $12 isn't much, but you're already doing stuff to do better. If my friends could do better, though, given their constraints, their lives would be a lot better off for it. Maybe a basic income isn't the answer, but an extra hundred dollars or two a month would go a long way toward improving their quality of life.
- Mz 11y ago
  Most people like me feel hopeless. They feel it is pointless. They don't see that there will be a payoff. It takes a long time to see a payoff and most of the social messages around them only reinforce the idea that it is hopeless, there isn't really a solution. The American mindset currently is that poor people need basic income or welfare or to win the lottery. I am angry and frustrated and I feel it is taking too long and I don't really want to do this anymore. I spend a lot of time cussing at the sky about how hard it is, how unfair it is, how I deserve better and so on. But I also know what my fate was "supposed to be." I am supposed to be getting about $100k in medical care annually while I steadily deteriorate. My ability to be productive is supposed to be declining, not improving. I am supposed to be either dead or dying a slow gruesome death from problems that doctors do not know how to fix. You might consider checking out my websites and possibly forwarding selected links to the people you are concerned about. I have a homeless blog. I have a food blog where I talk about using food as my medicine. Those might be the most immediately relevant to your concerns. There are things disabled people can do to exercise agency and get small gains in the short term that can be gradually leveraged for larger gains down the road. But they have lost hope. So do not talk to them about big gains down the road and do not talk to them about the scope of their challenges. It only makes them depressed. Instead, if you find an article with concrete small, doable solutions that can benefit them in the here and now, share that in a non pushy way. Then be patient. It may be months before you see evidence of results. But if you get into the habit of forwarding them useful bits periodically, it can slowly change. I apologize if I am overstepping my bounds. I woke up with a fierce headache. Trying to be helpful is a longstanding habit and it is sometimes the wrong thing to do. Have a good day.