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Thursday, July 27, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION
NISA KHAN
EDITOR IN CHIEF
SARAH KHAN
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
DAYTON HARE
MANAGING EDITOR
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan since 1890.
Disabled and disavowed
BILLY STAMPFL | OP-ED
ANNA
POLUMBO-
LEVY
Appreciate the small things
A
few
weeks
ago,
in
preparation for a meeting
with a client at work, I
started fishing around my computer
for a list of some slang words used
in
various
Spanish-
speaking
countries.
I
typed into my
search window
on my computer “slang,” thinking
I’d find the document that way. But
as my luck would have it, virtually
everything containing the word
“slang” in it came up, except for
the document I was looking for,
including text conversations I had no
idea were archived.
Curious to see what would come up,
and succumbing to my ever-shortening
attention span (thanks, technology),
I scrolled down to find an old portion
of my application to the University of
Washington. It was about slang. The
prompt asked us to talk about a word
we believe has lost its meaning. I chose
to write about the word “awesome.”
I began like this: “Awesome is
no longer reserved for what is awe-
inspiring or characterized by awe.
Awesome is the discount we get for
buying a six-pack of gum. Awesome
is the chocolate cake dished out at a
birthday party. Awesome is the fact
that your local market is open on New
Year’s Eve day. None of those things are
magnificent, awe-inspiring, sublime, or
the least bit majestic. I believe they do
not deserve the word ‘awesome.’ ”
Though I still agree with my 17-year-
old self
that calling a discount on a pack
of gum “awesome” maybe does water
down the meaning of the word, it got
me thinking about appreciation. It
made me think about how technology,
in some ways, has caused us to forget
to appreciate the small things. Forget
that everywhere we look we are
surrounded by amazing feats of the
time period these technologies were
created in. In a society where we’re
always looking for the next new
great thing, and progress means
a newer this, a “smarter” that, a
faster this, a shinier that, we lose
sight of the wonderful things that
are in our everyday lives.
Louis C.K. appeared on Conan
O’Brien’s late show in 2015. In part
of his segment, he commented how
“everything is amazing yet nobody
is happy.” He asked us to think, for a
moment, about how far we’ve come
with changes in society, and how at
this moment, we may be better off
going back to “simpler” times, because
maybe we’d be more appreciative of
what we have.
Sometimes, I just sit around and
stare at things and think about how
awesome and amazing it all is. (I
promise I haven’t lost it.) Someone had
to come up with an idea for something
that is now so common, it’s seen as
everyday, normal. But if you think
about it, some of these everyday things
are some of the most genius inventions.
Ziploc bags? Think about it. Yeah, it’s
plastic and gets thrown away. (I am not
a fan of that, though.) But someone sat
down one day and thought, wouldn’t it
be nice to be able to carry things around
in a bag that won’t spill? Someone had
to invent the Ziploc of the Ziploc bag.
I realize now that I probably sound
a little insane — who sits around
thinking about how amazing Ziploc
bags are? But I truly believe that it’s
time get back to work appreciating the
small things in life. We are in an age
where technology is rapidly changing.
Where talk of self-driving cars, much
to my dismay, are becoming a more
regular topic of conversation.
And while I am certainly grateful
for many technological advancements,
new technology has become the focus
of excitement. I would love to see
the things we call were once hailed
as phenomenal achievements, the
so-called “little” things, everyday
objects called “awesome.” As Louis
C.K. said, we are often so quick to think
that the “world owes us something,”
because in an age where it only take
seconds to send a text message, we have
grown more impatient, more quick to
complain when something takes much
longer, or isn’t up “with the times.”
You don’t have to be naive or
simplistic, to appreciate so-called
“small” things. I am the last person to
look through rose-colored glasses.
Unfortunately, I am sometimes
very quick to think worst-case-
scenario.
When
something
happens
I
can
often
spiral,
“catastrophize,” as my mother
says. So, when I say that I believe
there is merit in appreciating
what may seem like the smallest
thing, I don’t say it lightly.
When I appreciate the small
moments, appreciate the little
things, the little revelations about
life I have, it undoubtedly has
made me happier in harder times.
“Take time to stop and smell the
roses” may be a relatively old and
frequently-used saying, but right
here and now, it’s as important to
remember as ever.
—Anna Polumbo-Levy can be
reached at annapl@umich.edu.
N
athan Koski is a 23-year-
old Michigan resident who
works every morning as a
porter at local Chrysler dealerships.
He fulfills his community service role
by volunteering for Food Gatherers,
an Ann Arbor-based organization
dedicated to alleviating hunger in
Washtenaw County. He has taken
a community cooking class where
he learned to read food labels and pay
attention to nutrition facts.
Nathan also has a developmental
disability. He is one of 56.7 million
people with a disability currently
living in the United States, and he’s
just one of the many who suffer as
a result of inadequate disability
welfare programs in America.
Though
he
qualifies
for
Supplemental
Security
Income,
Nathan doesn’t benefit much from
it. SSI only grants him $735 a month
— which is actually on the high side
for this reimbursement plan — and
he’s expected to live off of this. That
comes out to about $8,800 per year,
which is particularly insufficient for
people with disabilities, who have
different needs than able-bodied
people. Nathan’s SSI check goes to
more than just rent, utilities and
transportation. Such miniscule
compensations
demonstrate
federal
ignorance:
lawmakers
must understand the costs of
having a disability.
Moreover, SSI caps accumulated
assets at $2,000, which means Nathan
is prohibited from collecting more
than a couple thousand dollars in
savings. On the first of every month, the
government checks his bank account,
and if he is just one dollar over the limit,
Nathan must forfeit whatever money
he receives in SSI aid for that month.
This condemns people with disabilities
to poverty, making it difficult to work
and allowing them less money to spend
patronizing local businesses.
Unfortunately,
other
programs
meant to alleviate this struggle
aren’t much better. Social Security
Disability
Insurance
offers
more
money, generally between $1,500 and
$2,000 per month. But the problem
with Disability Insurance is that
many people who receive help are
consequently barred from Medicaid
assistance. This is because many
states use the Federal Poverty
Level as the cut-off in determining
who qualifies for Medicaid, and it
doesn’t take much for deserving people
to be deemed ineligible.
On the topic of Medicaid: many
Republican Party lawmakers are hell-
bent on slashing its budget. They cite
concerns over inflating costs and a
widening federal debt. But reducing the
deficit doesn’t necessitate a restrictive
restructuring of Medicaid; we should
instead try to optimize existing welfare
programs, Medicaid and beyond.
Republicans
are
correct
that
disability welfare urgently needs
rethinking — SSI and SSDI fail to
provide sufficient support for people
with disabilities — but they’re moving
in the wrong direction. Medicaid
spending shouldn’t be left to the states,
or worse, reduced. Instead, existing
disability assistance programs should
be revamped. Currently, SSI drives
people with disabilities into poverty by
capping assets. SSDI attempts to take
them out of it, but in doing so it makes
them ineligible for Medicaid. So those
who receive SSI are out of luck, those
who get SSDI lose Medicaid, and those
who qualify for Medicaid are in danger
of losing it at the hands of a GOP-
controlled Washington, D.C.
Thus, the solution for lawmakers
is twofold: (1) Restructure broken
programs like SSI and SSDI, and (2)
prioritize Medicaid spending when
repairing the Affordable Care Act.
Beyond restructuring, new laws
can be passed that make it easier for
people with disabilities to save money,
too. If lawmakers need an example of
excellent health-care legislation, they
can look to the ABLE Act, authorized
by Congress in 2014. ABLE accounts
resemble 529 college plans in that they
provide tax-free growth, while they
also allow people with disabilities
to contribute $100,000 in total. This
is much more than is allowed by
SSI. In addition, ABLE accounts are
inexpensive to set up and facilitate
independence, because the recipient
can manage his or her own funds.
Laws like the ABLE Act should
not be isolated instances in which
policymakers actually demonstrate
an understanding of the dire ways
people with disabilities currently
get by in the United States.
Nathan Koski relies on an aide
so that he can make it to on time
to work, where he contributes to
economic growth. He spent part of
his SSI check on a computer so that
he could sign up for his foods and
nutrition class. He needs health care.
He needs these programs to work
to his benefit. Cutting Medicaid
funding and maintaining flawed
programs like SSI and SSDI would
not help Americans with disabilities
flourish. Such actions only push
them into poverty, and the economy
consequently suffers. Perhaps this
is a cost of lowering health-care
premiums and shrinking the deficit,
as many lawmakers hope to do. If
so, they need to ask themselves: is
that cost really worth it?
— Billy Stampfl can be reached
at bstampfl@umich.edu.
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Summer Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.