For many people, Sickness, in terms of people with long term health conditions, as well as Poverty have become the central issues and concerns as a result of this government's welfare reforms. There is not a day that goes by without some news article or piece of research that explains the apparent woes of people on low incomes and/or those with health conditions. While I do not wish to dispute there are people who are struggling financially, or have health issues which affect their function or quality of life, I would like to suggest that the way someone approaches these challenges and responds practically and emotionally to them is about their state of mind.
Before going further, let me explain my own situation so you understand I am talking from personal experience on both issues. As a self employed person, I rely on work coming in which varies greatly from month to month, especially as I never know where my next piece of work is coming from. I am thankful for Working Tax Credits although as it assumes some level of weekly income which does not always exist, I often have less income than if I was on ESA. This means I have periods of the year where I do struggle and I have to be smart to manage as anyone else does.
In terms of sickness, as well as cerebral palsy, I experience chronic persistent pain as a result of a nerve virus in 2009, requiring four types of painkiller to be taken every day throughout the day. I have bouts of chronic fatigue and lots of other minor issues that I simply manage. While I work, at home a good 40 hours a week as a minimum, there is no doubt that in terms of WCA, I am unfit for work as anyone can be, which just proves to me how flawed it is, in a way opposite to most people assume.
So I am poor and sick by most people's standards, and yet I feel as positive about my life as anyone can be. I am very rich in my experiences of life and feel healthy as I am happy with my situation and what I am striving for. The usual response to this statement is that I am very exceptional but why? Because I am and feel successful, why is that such a big deal just because I have cerebral palsy?
I would like to propose that for anyone in the media with a sob story about not coping because of supposed poverty or sickness, there is at least someone else in the same situation who are not just coping, but being successful, quietly getting on with it. The middle class and their associated media does not want to hear this, since they prefer to see people appear disempowered and dependent on them, because of poverty or sickness. If people realised that with the right attitude and frame of mind, they may not need the apparent assistance of all these charities, then there would be a lot of well paid charity workers unemployed and actually experiencing poverty for the first time!
While there is some specific need for Foodbanks, they are the fashion statement of this government as they have ensured the unnecessary revival of Victorian values, namely the poor should be dependent on the rich. I fear Foodbanks have made the mind set of poverty popular and that this is just the start of a drastic reversal of the opportunities of social mobility my generation had under Margaret Thatcher. By teaching people it is okay to depend on charity, as oppose to cutting their cloth appropriately, people will never gain the right mind set to be successful.
The same with sickness is happening, as charities and the media wish people to wallow in self-pity rather then gritting their teeth and just get on with it. And I am not saying having little money or being long-term sick is easy, but who said life had to be easy? It is our struggles that make us stronger people and I have never waited for the government or charities to improve my life, as I know the only person who could do that was me!
Poverty and sickness had always existed and I sometimes feel so embarrassed how soft this generation sometimes appears to be. If some charities and indeed disability activists were around when we were living in caves, we would have all been deemed unfit for work and would never have invented fire, being extinct a very long time ago. This is why I am convinced that both poverty and sickness are a state of mind we can all overcome.