Has Anyone Gotten on Disability?

[Tinniger]

Tinnitus sucks. But nothing sucks so much that they deserve "free money" that's actually just stolen from others.

I hope that I have misunderstood this note due to translation difficulties.
But in a tinnitus forum it is completely incomprehensible to deny an invalidity pension to a person who is severely affected by tinnitus.

 

[Emperor-Drax]

why a hammer cost $700.00! A toilet seat cost $1,000.00. A bolt cost $10.00. The nut to the bolt is another $10.00. Air Force's $1,200 Coffee Cup

Skip to 1:00

 

[Bill Bauer]

You make it sound like we're all dying in agony in the streets!

When I saw your prices in Queensland and in Tasmania, I thought the prices in Sydney and Melbourne are going to be different. They weren't.

To understand what an American feels when they see your supermarket prices, just go to your supermarket and imagine being in a foreign country where all of the prices are 3 times the prices you are used to. What would you think about the standard of living there, if you knew that their salaries are not 3 times higher (and are in fact lower than the average salary in your country)?

Australians generally experience a higher standard of living than Americans, and are far less likely to live in poverty (and those who do have better chances at securing public housing).

I (unironically) agree that Australia is awesome. The low purchasing power of the salaries is regrettable, though.

Where are you getting that information about the standard of living being higher? And the second part of the text I quoted is exactly what the Soviet folks used to say. LOL

And although superficially it might look to you that things are more expensive here, our dollar isn't valued as highly as the US dollar

When I say that the supermarket prices that I saw were 2-4 times higher than in the US, I was talking about the prices AFTER converting all of the prices to the same currency. I have to admit that one time I did encounter prices that were just a little above US supermarket prices. This was at some Chinese store in Melbourne. After this experience, I visited multiple stores at Chinatown in Adelaide, but alas - the prices there were as ridiculous as everywhere else.

Americans who seem to always be looking over their shoulders for the next round of firings

Why do you think this is the case? In any case - again that is the kind of an argument they used to make in USSR.

Racial and sectarian violence is almost unheard of here too.

Why do you think this is the case?

if you are poor or are a low to middle income earner, you'll experience significantly less stress in Australia than you would in the US.

During 1970s Soviet citizens also experienced less stress than in the West. I guess as long as the government provides you with a soup kitchen with some warm soup that you can enjoy after waiting your turn in line and some barracks where you can sleep - you'd be happy. A simple stress-free life - what's not to love?!

(I do want to reiterate - Australia is a cool place, that I can't wait to see again. It is none of my business, but I think that it would be nice to see Australians getting their act together.)

 

[Emperor-Drax]

Actually I think you blow all your credibility away by constantly referencing the USSR. There is no reasonable comparison between Australia and the overreaching Soviet command and control system (with all its ownership of production, killing quotas, gulags and famines, etc). It just reeks of conservative paranoia on your part.

Our "act together"? Dude, you might have visited, but you don't know the first thing about us at all, mate.

 

[coffee_girl]

I think it's weird to compare the USA to other countries, there are SO many differing factors such as cultural differences, land size, geography, religion etc.....what works in one country wouldn't work in another.

 

[Bill Bauer]

deny an invalidity pension to a person who is severely affected by tinnitus.

They shouldn't be denied anything. If someone wants to help them - they should go ahead and do it. It is just that nobody should be entitled to another person's money - that's all.

Our "act together"? Dude, you might have visited, but you don't know the first thing about us at all, mate.

I know that your poor can't afford to buy fruits and vegetables (despite your country having more than enough land to supply your population with fruits and vegetables).

There is no reasonable comparison between Australia and the overreaching Soviet command and control system (with all its ownership of production, killing quotas, gulags and famines, etc).

All of that was horrible. However, none of it (except for the state ownership of production) was around during my time there (during 1970s and 1980s). Back then back there, you had similar "dying society" vibe that I have been seeing in the West lately (e.g., plummeting standard of living). It was a lot more free than what we have in the West right now. You would be in trouble if you were to publicly say the things that the newspapers wouldn't publish (just like in the West today) (you would not be arrested, you would just lose your job), but (unlike the West these days) people talked about those things freely among themselves.

 

[Emperor-Drax]

I know that your poor can't afford to buy fruits and vegetables (despite your country having more than enough land to supply your population with fruits and vegetables).

Our farming capacity is actually extremely limited in Australia. Most of our landmass is arid desert. And come on, our poor of course do it tough like anywhere else in the world, but your talk as if we're stuck in 1930s Depression era is completely false.

All of that was horrible. However, none of it (except for the state ownership of production) was around during my time there (during 1970s and 1980s). Back then back there, you had similar "dying society" vibe that I have been seeing in the West lately (e.g., plummeting standard of living). It was a lot more free than what we have in the West right now. You would be in trouble if you were to publicly say the things that the newspapers wouldn't publish (just like in the West today) (you would not be arrested, you would just lose your job), but (unlike the West these days) people talked about those things freely among themselves.

What exactly do you mean that people in the West can't talk about things freely amongst themselves unlike the Soviets back in the good ole days?

 

[Bill Bauer]

Most of our landmass is arid desert.

I am aware of that. But surely the area of the land where you can grow food must be greater than the area of, say, Italy (where some of the land is arid and the mountains take up a significant area). Italy is doing pretty well, as far as fruits and vegetables are concerned.

our poor of course do it tough like anywhere else in the world

Have you read my posts? Australian food prices are three times higher than the food prices in the US. This hurts everyone, but my guess is that the poor are the ones who are hit the hardest.

What exactly do you mean that people in the West can't talk about things freely amongst themselves unlike the Soviets back in the good ole days?

I have just been talking about my own experiences. If I could name the topics (without worrying about the likely consequences) that people won't talk about, then what I wrote in my previous post wouldn't be true, would it?

Think about the topics that you don't think your local newspaper would touch. That's the topic I am talking about.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I used the tool below to superimpose Italy onto Australia.
https://thetruesize.com/#?borders=1...MzYwMDAwMDA(MA~!IT*MTUxMjkzNzY.MjU2MDg3MzE)Mw

 

[Emperor-Drax]

Have you read my posts? Australian food prices are three times higher than the food prices in the US. This hurts everyone, but my guess is that the poor are the ones who are hit the hardest.

Again, our lower value dollar means things are inflated, but overall Australian wages (as well as those on income support) are proportional to those prices. And I noticed you wrote a response to that point that I made Australia experiencing higher wages than the US, but you mistakenly compared US median household income to Australian median individual income, and you quickly deleted your post when you realised you'd made that error. Our individual median income doesn't look so bad now, huh.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

If an employed individual paid into the Social Security System for years and then gets severe tinnitus or develops any severe health problem then they should be entitled for disability. That isn't social welfare or is it bleeding the market economy. This thread isn't a discussion on the pluses or minuses of large corporations not paying taxes. Severe disability being granted should not be compared to any other economic or social model.

 

[Emperor-Drax]

I have just been talking about my own experiences. If I could name the topics (without worrying about the likely consequences) that people won't talk about, then what I wrote in my previous post wouldn't be true, would it?

Think about the topics that you don't think your local newspaper would touch. That's the topic I am talking about.

Ehhh sorry, you're being too vague here.

 

[Bill Bauer]

And I noticed you wrote a response to that point that I made Australia experiencing higher wages than the US, but you mistakenly compared US median household income to Australian median individual income, and you quickly deleted your post when you realised you'd made that error. Our individual median income doesn't look so bad now, huh.

Yes, I mixed up household income with personal income. I looked into it, and I see that the after-tax income in both countries is very similar. I take back what I said about wages in Australia being lower than wages in the US. Sorry about that.

Again, our lower value dollar means things are inflated

Not only that, but you quote prices per kilogram, whereas in the US they quote the prices per pound. During my multiple trips, I had a chance to visit many Australian supermarkets. I would always convert all prices to the same currency and would always look at the price per pound (so I would divide Australian prices by 2.2 to get the price per pound and then I would multiply that by 0.8 to convert to USD).

 

[SugarMagnolia]

It is just that nobody should be entitled to another person's money - that's all.

If I work for thirty-five years and have social security taken out of every paycheck, how is it that I am not entitled to receive social security when I become disabled or elderly?

 

[Emperor-Drax]

If I work for thirty-five years and have social security taken out of every paycheck, how is it that I am not entitled to receive social security when I become disabled or elderly?

You are entitled. It's just that miserly conservative attitude "i aint lettin them leeches taek muh tax dahlahs no wai no how sir". It's all festered from the "strong work ethic" mentality that essentially believes that you must work your arse off with no reward until you're dead because the world owes you nothing.

 

[Bill Bauer]

If I work for thirty-five years and have social security taken out of every paycheck, how is it that I am not entitled to receive social security when I become disabled or elderly?

In that case, of course you are entitled to it.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It's just that miserly conservative attitude "i aint lettin them leeches taek muh tax dahlahs no wai no how sir".

Like I said - it is the attitude above that is the reason your standard of living is so low in Australia (as evidenced by the prices you have to pay for food).

LOL This reminds me of my attempt to buy a converter in Australia. I have a 220 Volt appliance that I bought in Europe that I wanted to use at home in Canada. In Canada and in the US, electronics stores sell converters for the citizens to use the appliances from their home country in Europe. Unfortunately the stores won't accommodate European tourists who might want to use their appliances here. Australian appliances use 220V, like the ones in Europe, so when I was in Australia, I attempted to buy a converter that would allow Australian/European appliances to be used in North America. I visited multiple electronics stores and none of them had it. At two of those stores, the staff explained to me that what they sell are converters that allow American appliances to be used in Australia. This is the result of Australians buying and using US appliances... That must be a pretty widespread practice. Surprisingly, Americans are not exporting electronics from Australia.

It still seems strange to me that Australians can't buy a converter at Australian stores that would allow them to charge their Australian laptop in the US. Could it be that the majority of Australian travelers are planning to buy a laptop in the US on their US trip?! The evidence from Australian electronics stores seems to point to that conclusion. So it is NOT just the food prices.

[By the way, another couple of items that came to my mind just now were hotel and gasoline prices. I have had a flat tire on my rental car, and the amount I paid for a new tire was 50% higher than the US price. Of course, in this case the sample size is 1 (unlike the sample size for hotel room rates, gasoline, and food), but I had never seen a price in Australia that was Lower than the prices I've seen elsewhere.]

And your salaries are similar (likely slightly lower than the salaries in the US, once we take your higher income taxes into account).

The benefit of your attitude is that you get to feel that you are a good person. [Could it be a case of arrested development? I can see a four year old finding the thought "I am a Good boy" to be appealing. But anyone older than that having this mindset?! Pathetic is what it is.] The cost is enormous - you could have had prosperity (AND your poor folks would have been better off).

 

[Jack Straw]

So we shouldn't be helping people who need help if they didn't pay enough into social security?

Do you honestly think that when someone is dealt a really shitty hand in life that they had no control over we should just let them starve in the streets because they can't work?

I am disgusted that you guys, who suffer from this disease too and know how terrible it is, think that people who suffer from it worse than you and can't work shouldn't get a helping hand.

Edit: when I say helping hand I mean from taxes that come from your own money.

 

[Emperor-Drax]

Dude, I have no idea what that ramble was all about.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Dude, I have no idea what that ramble was all about.

I changed the font of the main ideas in my post above to bold. If you are not convinced by those statements on their own - you are welcome to read all of the supporting arguments.

Kudos for a creative way of conveying that you've got nothing, as far as counter-arguments go. All you need in order to prove (to yourself) that I am not completely right, is find a converter to allow you to use your appliances in the US. Good luck with that.

 

[Emperor-Drax]

All you need in order to prove (to yourself) that I am not completely right, is find a converter to allow you to use your appliances in the US. Good luck with that.

Found one!

https://www.tortech.com.au/product/voltage-converters/economy-american-step-up-transformer/

And a cheaper one:

https://www.wallcann.com.au/100w-st...Gfeseq776GhXp57ktJ_TrIHTLKDbwf-AaAv4VEALw_wcB

Waiting for the inevitable "but... but..."

 

[Emperor-Drax]

Like I said - it is the attitude above that is the reason your standard of living is so low in Australia (as evidenced by the prices you have to pay for food).

This claim you keep making based on your own biased anecdotal experience is just plain false.

http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/australia/

 

[Bill Bauer]

This claim you keep making based on your own biased anecdotal experience is just plain false.

http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/australia/

I like Australia, so if I were to have any bias, it would be in favour of Australia. The only relevant statistic at your link is the salary one, and it is similar to that in the US.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Waiting for the inevitable "but... but..."

But I think I could find an online store selling VCRs. That doesn't mean VCRs are easy to find at a randomly selected electronics store. I've been to four or five stores in Melbourne, Hobart and Launceston, and the staff looked at me like I was a crazy person. One of them told me that this is the first time in his many years at the store that he got asked for such a thing.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

So we shouldn't be helping people who need help if they didn't pay enough into social security?

Do you honestly think that when someone is dealt a really shitty hand in life that they had no control over we should just let them starve in the streets because they can't work?

I am disgusted that you guys, who suffer from this disease too and know how terrible it is, think that people who suffer from it worse than you and can't work shouldn't get a helping hand.

I agree. This has always been a posting thesis for me per people who have disabilities. I often mention proper medical care and available treatment with a helping financial hand if needed. Counseling services, emotional and condition support and friends are needed.

This is different from a OB birth floor where in some hospitals 90% or more are on public assistance with several children and more coming. Where the birth givers are healthy, but just never wanted to work. Some US states reward those with having children and without wanting to work more financial assistance. With this sometimes the children are not a concern as money for beer and drugs is more important.

 

[derpytia]

I think it should be said that I will soon be one of those people applying for disability. My hearing loss and tinnitus have gotten so bad that my work performance and ability to get through day to day life are being severely impacted in a negative way. And I work a minimum wage "low skill" job. There is not pulling myself up by the bootstraps in this situation. I hate to become part of the demographic. There is a certain amount of shame that comes with needing disability benefits. But I've come to a point where I need them.

I also don't think a lot of you know how hard it is to get these benefits, even if you are severely disabled. My friend's husband had a stroke and now cannot use the left side of his body at all. He also now has narcolepsy and falls asleep in random places at random times. He was outright denied after his first application for disability despite all the doctors notes and everything. He was told that that was the norm for everyone applying for disability. They will deny you the first time around because they hope that you will give up so that they don't have to support yet another person. It took him three tries to get his disability benefits. Meanwhile he and his wife struggled to make ends meet and had to move in with his parents or face the streets.

 

[Bill Bauer]

we shouldn't be helping people who need help if they didn't pay enough into social security?

Why won't you come to my house and do stuff for me for free? There are many things that need to be done around here that I am incapable of doing.

I am disgusted that you guys, who suffer from this disease too and know how terrible it is, think that people who suffer from it worse than you and can't work shouldn't get a helping hand.

If only they haven't been raped by the government their whole adult lives, those people might have had the savings necessary to not have to be dependent on the state raping the people around them on their behalf.

 

[Jack Straw]

Why won't you come to my house and do stuff for me for free? There are many things that need to be done around here that I am incapable of doing.

If only they haven't been raped by the government their whole adult lives, those people might have had the savings necessary to not have to be dependent on the state raping the people around them on their behalf.

You do realize that taxes are used to pay for stuff that you are currently benefiting from?

Without people paying taxes a shit load of stuff you take for granted would be gone. The government isn't "raping" people. They don't always spend it wisely, but it is far from "raping".

 

[Bill Bauer]

You do realize that taxes are used to pay for stuff that you are currently benefiting from?

I am getting a bad deal. I could have obtained most of those things with higher quality and at a lower cost under a different system.

The government isn't "raping" people.

To me, being raped is having to participate in something against my will. Enough said.

 

[Tanni]

When applying for disability, is the given reason 'Tinnitus', or is it lumped in under depression? If you can't get disability for Tinnitus alone, then it's no wonder it doesn't get taken seriously as a condition and is underfunded. Governments only start paying out for research if they find it's already costing them money!