The universal disability/food stamps answer: 'Die, you lazy dirty bum!'

As a conservative, I don't agree with the whole Nanny State philosophy of the government being nursemaids to us all. But sadly, I've reached the point in my life where because of my autism and my life history of being unemployed/unemployable, I've had to apply for disability (which my Christian pastor therapist says I am more than qualified for), and for other programs such as food stamps.

Even though I'm quite an intelligent person I find some of these programs difficult to understand, so I google the various questions that occur to me. Like today, I wondered if I could use my Michigan Bridge card (Food Stamps card) in the Walmart in Marinette, Wisconsin, since the prices are cheaper there than at the big grocery in Menominee, Michigan.

Usually, the questions I pose have already been asked on something like 'Yahoo Answers'. And there is a universal answer, always approved by the majority, something along the line of 'why don't you get off your lazy, dirty, allegedly disabled ass and get a job?'

It's one thing when a welfare malingerer reads something like that. But for me, it's like I had lost my legs and people were nagging me to get off my lazy butt and walk. It's not just the 'I would if I could' factor, it's being poked in a very painful wound.

It's hard when you grew up thinking you were normal and could have a normal life and a job, to face the realization that you have autism and that a normal life is not in the cards for you. It's hard to even want to stay alive when your only choices are either to apply for SSI disability and Medicaid, or let your life-threatening health problems go untreated.

And going through all that, it's double tough to feel that you have to explain yourself, your work history (or lack thereof) and your disability to hostile strangers just in order to get answers to your questions about whether you can use your Food Stamps in a neighboring state (you can, by the way).

I think conservatives are taking a major wrong turn when they let their very logical concerns about government over-spending on social programs turn into hostility against the poor and disabled. Without Christian charity (or its Jewish or Muslim equivalent), conservatism turns into something nasty like the old eugenics movement that proposed a 'lethal chamber' because there were too many 'defectives' and the time of normal people was wasted in taking care of them.

Some people think that private charity should replace things like SSI, Medicaid and Food Stamps. But right now there are no charities that send a disabled person a monthly check for their living expenses or provide health care coverage for them. It would be a difficult and chaotic transition and I can't help but feel that a lot of people would end up homeless as the new charities got started. I think the most likely to be affected would be people like schizophrenics and the profoundly mentally impaired, who don't know what's going on around them.

Folks must realize that there are no easy quick answers to problems like that posed by social welfare spending. And no Christian should ever forget to show Christian charity to the real life people who are affected by poverty and disability. Not just because it ticks God off. It's also that if we conservatives are foolish enough to lose the poor and disabled voters to the Dumbocrat party because we just have to call poor/disabled person a lazy bum who's just working the system, we'll have four more years of Obama and then we'll ALL be on Food Stamps....