I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore • Hacker News Board

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#21

Post by pj_mukh » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

Telaneo wrote: post #13

avalys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

We have enough excess in society that we can spare enough of those things to those who are unable to take care of themselves.

“We have enough excess in society”

How are you measuring this? Hopefully something better than stock prices.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#22

Post by inigyou » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

meta_gunslinger wrote: post #18

b3lvedere wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me how someone born disabled made the wrong decision? After that, tell me how someone who became disabled after an accident which they themselves did not cause, made the wrong decision? Thirdly, tell me how someone who lived perfectly healthy just happend to have some blood clot shot into their brain suddenly, made the wrong decision?

The wrong decision is not being insured for disaster and not saving enough when you were able to work, electing to spend the money instead. Not being unlucky with your health or having an accident. That's clearly stated in my original response if you care to read and not knee-jekingly respond. For someone who has been born disabled, the conversation should be moved to the people who brought them to life and are respo…

When your insurance denies your claim, does that mean being insured was the wrong decision too?

Which wrong decision did the parents of a disabled person make? Not getting prenatal genetic testing and an illegal abortion?

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#23

Post by b3lvedere » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

"But I am trying to believe there is more to a human life than how efficiently it converts energy into labor."

There absolutely is. Labor can be fullfilling and give joy, but for most people it is just an easy tool on how to survive and hopefully have some comfort as well. Do not ever feel ashamed of your labor and even more, do not ever feel ashamed of not doing labor if you don't want to. You have one life in this universe. Make it a nice one.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#24

Post by germinalphrase » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:02 PM UTC

avalys wrote: post #8

Telaneo wrote: post #5

> If your worth is not determined by your productivity, then what remains of you underneath it all? Everything else. You are worth so much more than your productivity. I'm glad I never got sucked into the protestant work ethic, since defining yourself based on your labour and the value you generate from that sounds woefully narrow-minded (this doesn't feel like quite the right word, but close enough). It's probably h…

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

Increasingly, the answer is a “what”, not a “who”.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#25

Post by XorNot » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

pj_mukh wrote: post #21

Telaneo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have enough excess in society that we can spare enough of those things to those who are unable to take care of themselves.

“We have enough excess in society” How are you measuring this? Hopefully something better than stock prices.

The world produces so much excess food we pay farmers not to grow it and fast fashion brands burn unsold merchandise in the desert.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#26

Post by b3lvedere » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

nickdothutton wrote: post #3

At some point many years ago I read that the family, not the individual, is the building block of society. It might have been Chesterton or Friedman as I read a lot of both when I was young. It certainly is a lot easier to hold the line when you have a squad of half a dozen to a dozen with you (wife/husband/children/brothers/sisters/uncles etc). If the state is there, then you are fortunate, but I wouldn't want to co…

I know several families who are absolutely not a building block of society. Some not by choice.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#27

Post by Taikonerd » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

If you read this article and feel worried about your financial situation if you become disabled, you might look into long-term disability insurance (LTD).

It's a policy where, if you become disabled to the point where you can't work, it pays out $X per month, every year until you're 65. And if you're partly disabled and have to cut back your hours, some policies compensate you for those lost wages.

These LTD policies are expensive, but they DO give you peace of mind about this possibility.

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#28

Post by beanjuiceII » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

[flagged]

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#29

Post by CursedSilicon » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

beanjuiceII wrote: post #10

avalys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who produces the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the energy you use, the medicine you consume, etc. while you airily define ‘productivity’ as reading the classics and spending time with friends?

[flagged]

This smells a lot of "I'm miserable so everyone else must be as unhappy as I am"

What if we make a better world for everyone, instead of a planetary crab bucket?

Re: I'm 38 and I Can't Support Myself Anymore

#30

Post by paulryanrogers » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

Brendinooo wrote: post #11

The author lays most of this at the feet of capitalism, and I agree that the system has excesses that have contributed to the atomization of society, which can cause people to slip through the cracks, but...has any other system been obviously _better_ at supporting those with disabilities? Did feudalism or communism do this better? (I think about the "worst system, except for all the other systems" quote often)

Democratic socialism. The US has quite a few such experiments like the New Deal. And they've been quite a bit better than the grinding, unbridled industrialism that consumed and spat out young and old alike.