Bear with me for a second here. Earlier this year, I read a book I very much enjoyed, Born to Run by Chris McDougall. In it, among many, many other things he mentions the beneficial aspects of chia seeds which the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyon region of Mexico eat and which, apparently, assist with their ability to run insane distances without a great deal of injury. A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law came for a visit, and she brought some chia seeds. (Yes, this is the same stuff they use for Chia Pets.) So, I figured what the hell, and I started eating them before runs.
And, sure enough, I felt like I had more endurance for the runs after eating the chia seeds. When I mentioned this to my sister but minimized the significance by suggesting that it may well be a placebo effect operating, my sister responded, “so what? If it works, it works.” Placebo effect doesn’t mean the effects are illusory, it means that our brains are capable of operating on our bodies in ways we don’t quite understand.
So, that was floating in the back of my mind this morning (I ran a few miles before work after fueling up on some yogurt & chia) when I was thinking about the significant number of people against whom I am trying to collect debts who are in one stage or another of applying for and/or receiving social security disability benefits. There are some who are very clearly disabled. But there are also plenty where I look at them and, not to put too fine a point on it, call bullshit.
I’m sure there are a non-trivial number who are flat out frauds. But the placebo effect discussion got me to wondering whether there are some who suffer disabling symptoms because something in their brain perceives a need to be disabled in order to get benefits. Maybe on some level, they can’t find or don’t want to work and aren’t, initially, in that bad of condition physically. But, they become aware of the possibility of disability benefits and, while they aren’t consciously seeking to cheat the system, on some level they come to see disability benefits as a lifeline – a steady source of income in a world where income can be uncertain. With those conditions, I wonder if disabling symptoms can begin to really set in with the actual cause being something akin to a placebo.
Like I said, random thought. Whatever the cause, in my collections business, the volume of people telling me they can’t work and have “applied for disability” is a source of annoyance. I’m happy it’s there for people who really need it. But, I’m convinced there is a significant freeloading component of the population trying to take advantage of it.
Always insist on the brand-name placebos – the generics just aren’t as good.
Very interesting info about chia seeds, and provocative thinking about disability. I just don’t know enough about the application process to say, but I’d imagine trying to prove that it’s all in their mind (after approval) wouldn’t get you very far in debtor’s court.
Oh, I don’t try. I don’t offer any social commentary about their status. I have my suspicions, but don’t have access to their medical records or any particular expertise for evaluating them even if I did. A lot of them apply but never really get anywhere in the disability process.
My role as attorney for a judgment creditor is to determine if they have any income or assets and, if they do, to get at those. It’s pretty much beyond my power to push them into acquiring either.
Jason:
Since the Indiana income tax is not graduated, the exemptions you (presumably) list on the W-4 form don’t have a similar effect as they do on the federal tax return. Think of it this way, if you are in a 33% marginal tax bracket, every $1 of exemptions/deductions you list on the W-4 changes your federal taxation by .33. However, they change your state taxation by only .03. That’s an eleven fold difference. I can’t answer for anything in excess of 11x, but that is my understanding of the majority of it.
Not all disabilities are immediately visible.
Not many employers are looking for unskilled labor these days, and if they are, they can pick from among the young, strong, and reliable. Probably you’re right, the availability of public disability causes disability. But technology in the workplace causes disability too; technology results in higher productivity, but also renders a significant percentage of the population more or less unemployable.
Chia is a member of the mint family, and like many such plants grows quickly and does not need a lot of soil to grow, hence the Chia Pet.
I don’t handle disability applications, but I do deal with people who are on or applying for disability in the course of my job. There are some people I wonder about to be sure, but, as Chad mentioned, not all disabilities are immediately visible and obvious. A person could have severe heart disease, breathing problems, vision issues, difficulty staying on their feet for long periods because of arthritis, back problems, etc. That person could look perfectly fine and not appear to be disabled when you meet him or her in your office. Still that person may have conditions, while not obvious to you and me, that interfere with his/her ability to do manual labor or handle a machine or vehicle at a factory. That person may not be able to work in retail or fast food, either, because those jobs typically do require being able to be on your feet for long stretches of time, doing some lifting, and being able to move quickly from place to place.
Many of the people I deal with don’t have even minimal clerical skills. They can’t type, don’t know how to work a computer, have poor language skills (to put it mildly), and so on. Therefore, finding work that does not involve using their bodies in some way may be difficult, if not impossible. Disability may be their only option, even if it is a poor option. Now, we can argue that people should have taken better care of themselves and should have paid attention in school, but if they didn’t, what are they to do thirty years later when they have few job options?
A lot of the job variety isn’t around any more. I could probably work part time in a data entry job, or phone support.
Oops, they sent all those to India.
But a few still exist in the States, I gather, and so since they exist at all, I should be able to get to any one of them I choose and count on getting hired, at least according to that school of thought. Right. (I’d like to know what universe they come from where that happens, cause I’d really like to live there….)
I want to work. I do not like not being able to work a full day of physical labor. I grew up on a farm, and being physically active and busy and contributing to society is what I very much want to do. I have learned to tailor my daily ambitions to what my body will do, since otherwise I will black out from pain, and lose the next day’s functionality. Most of the time if you were to see me in public, though, you wouldn’t know that just doing the week’s grocery shopping means I have to spend the rest of the day in bed. I tend to be sick behind closed doors.
I am sure some people game the system. In every system, there are people who try to cheat. But really, disability isn’t that damn great, unless you’re sick, and then it’s better than nothing.
Purely as a side note, I bet that the rate of people trying to exaggerate their illness to get on disability would drop if we had passed a “Medicare for all” type bill. When I tried I didn’t want the money, just the health care. I’ve resigned myself to living with the dislocation and torn ligaments until either my book sells or I get sick enough that people actually believe me.
“A lot of the job variety isn’t around any more. I could probably work part time in a data entry job, or phone support.
Oops, they sent all those to India.”
So are you willing to work for the same wages or does society need to start paying more for all goods? Same goes for manufacturing jobs.
Even then, I am not sure we can revers globalization.
As long as Americans demand cheap goods and/or the current quality of life we have in this country, the solutions are out of country labor or lowering our wages/quality of life to match.
There are data entry jobs, transcription jobs, customer service jobs, and other legitimate work from home jobs, but they almost always require a fairly new computer, a printer, possibly a telephone headset, a foot pedal, good computer skills, good English language skills, typing of at least 50 words per minute, etc. A lot of the people I have worked with would not even begin to have those things.