A few years ago a woman was conversing about her two children, one was healthy and the other had very poor vision. Of the latter she mused, "He was so close, so close." It was a moment before her meaning was clear: He was not quite impaired enough to qualify for disability. Apparently with just a bit more luck, he could have been officially blind.
Three healthy people I know personally have applied for disability this week. They have diagnoses, they see physicians for them but they are functionally healthy. What they want is to stop working and to have someone else work for them. They want to "take the black" and enter the subsidized life.
A few years ago the religious life was an excellent escape for those who were overwhelmed by the world and its responsibilities. Deep devotion was not required, only a mild personality and an inclination towards doing good. The life was structured, safe--as long as you did not do missionary work--and rewarding. It had the respect of the laity and the assurance of regular meals. The bureaucracy had limited aims so corruption was personal, not on a grand scale. And it provided something special: Community.
Recent numbers show that 8.5 million people are on federal disability rolls, up from 5 million ten years ago. It is gradually becoming a lifestyle, albeit not as rewarding as the old religious life. Like so many of these special subsets in the modern world, it is scheduled to go broke in seven years.
It must be difficult for these government people as they try to replace entities that have evolved over centuries only to atrophy now when they are most needed.
Perhaps faith-based subsidies for monasteries and nunneries?
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