This morning I woke up with a headache that had nothing to do with a hangover and everything to do with the kind of stress I face this time of year. I tend to try to buy into the idea that this is a season of joy, and that it's all about families and parties, and wearing terrible sweaters for a laugh, but this is the last dying gasp of a year that I had pretty much figured out, before going into a new year that's a whole new set of chaos.
One of the issues I've faced is the issue of how I've paid into Social Security over the years. As a contract engineer, I had zero benefits (and zero retirement) but that was so long ago that my annual earnings hardly add up to make a Social Security benefit I could live on, and since I left teaching (where I made significantly more money) before I was fully vested (because Lupus) and the districts I worked for didn't always participate in Social Security, I rely on a pretty small check every month after working since I was 11 years old (mostly farm work after school, and some work at Woolworths, where they took out taxes, but I was too young to file).
The new year brings new challenges. Because certain benefits (like medical, food stamps, home energy assistance) rely on a "poverty line" that people really can't exist at, a COLA in Social Security can mean a loss of income, rather than a gain. There are times (and locations) where the Medicare premium is MORE than the Social Security increase (unless you are poor enough to qualify for "extra help", which is a Medicaid program (SLIMB or QIMB) If you have a housing subsidy, your rent increases, food stamps decrease, and you may end up being disqualified from certain benefits all together. People who are struggling (especially seniors and the disabled) look at the new year's finances with a mix of hope and dread.
Christmas and New Years are generally a time for wishes and hope. So, despite the bleak outlook of a crappy system which is set to become crappier (and more dangerous) under the incoming administration, I do have a few Christmas/ New Year wishes of very reasonable and inexpensive things I might want to find under my tree this year:
Having my kids and their families safely housed is the biggest dream I have right now. Rising rent rates and lower working hours have some of my kids scrambling, and the potential loss of HUD programs puts my disabled kids at very high risk. I don't want a big house and a yacht and to deck myself in diamonds and fur. I just want my kids to have a sturdy roof over their heads, the ability to afford a stable living situation that doesn't rely on the whims of an elected madman, and maybe to have enough money to take their kids to a museum or zoo once a month or so.
Used but nearly new condition banned books.
We can start with Fahrenheit 451. I should think the reason should be obvious at this point in history.
A box of smelling salts.
It's my sincerest wish to be able to wake up and suddenly realize that this is all some sort of horrid nightmare. That the nation was not so hateful of Black Women that they elected a felonious con-man rapist to the presidency of the country.
Oh, sure I could wish for stronger unions, less of a wage gap, a rational president (well... smelling salts...), peace on Earth, justice, and equality... but those are too large to fit under my little tree in my tiny senior apartment, and they require more than my wishes; they require the wishes of a large number of people on this planet, some of whom are less than motivated to work toward those goals. Most days even I am just thinking of a loaf of bread, a box of eggs, and a bag of decent quality dark roast coffee.
And that, I think, is in part the point for the 1%: that as long as we are all struggling with our simplest basic needs, it's hard to focus on the wider view of suffering that they've brought about in order to Scrooge McDuck the most amount of money, which they could never spend all of in their lifetime, purely for bragging rights.
My epiphany: Maslow's hierarchy of needs looks a lot like a Christmas tree.
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