01-18-2017, 03:59 PM
(01-18-2017, 01:55 PM)Warren Dew Wrote:(01-18-2017, 10:12 AM)pbrower2a Wrote:(01-15-2017, 10:58 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: Expecting welfare and entitlement recipients to have respect for taxpayers is like expecting slaveowners to have respect for their slaves.
I have gotten some food aid. I show enough respect for taxpayers to not buy sweets (unless you call strawberries, oranges, grapes, or bananas 'sweets') on that aid.
I am also starting vocational rehab even before I can collect SSDI... as a hedge. I might be able to do something compatible with Asperger's at my age. I would rather be a taxpayer.
Trying to get off is good, and not rubbing it in their faces is good. It would be nice if there were some equivalent to the "thank you for your service" that vets get, but I'm not sure how that would work.
You might try learning a computer scripting language like PHP or Python. They are relatively easy to learn, and Asperger's is a big plus for programming, due to the perfectionistic tendencies and the ability to focus. Java is higher end but takes more training.
How about vacations to interesting places, food such as steak and lobster, wine instead of diet colas, nice clothes, a really-good sound system, better housing, and maybe a better car....not to mention being more desirable to women if a straight male? That's how capitalism rewards middle-class and skilled-labor success. I doubt that anyone has a problem with that. Ostentatious display? I'd rather have money in a brokerage account, thank you.
I did some programming years ago in college and loved it. I went to the computer lab around 11PM and left when the computers got shut down for maintenance... and I was surprised that it was 3 AM. That was BASIC. That's how long ago it was. I was able even to create images for a mock-up call-sign screen and such a game as Yahtzee (really simple).
The poor will always be with us, and how we treat them (or any other vulnerable people) will say more of our character than will any possessions that we ever get. Anyone of base character can kiss up to the rich-and-powerful. Showing genuine compassion for poor people? Such is the true measure of us all.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.