The startling rise of disability in America

Re drugs, these reports have a lot of information about production and consumption, including per capita use.

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/WDR.html

 

just present the figures to make your case.

 

I don't feel the need to convince you or anyone. It wasn't even my analogy (war on drugs). I simply disputed the moron's assertions that the "war on drugs" was failing. If you're concerned about it then google it. There was a recent article on Slate, and it's been repeated elsewhere, with actual NYC statistics. They, and others cite the drop in price and the reduction in overdoses and hospitalizations. Whether you believe it or not does not impact the correlation. http://www.justice.gov/dea/index.shtml is also a place to look.

The price is dropping (30Y lows, unadjusted) because of demand. The Mexican cartels aren't killing each other because business is good. Overdose statistics are hitting multi-decade lows. If you think I'm making it up then you can feel free to provide stats to the contrary.

It's a elasticity of demand scenario and not enforcement. Either way, it's of no use to anyone with respect to this thread. I didn't bring up the topic of drugs.

 

I am pretty sure you wouldn't switch places with someone in one of those countries.

 

even the lefties never went to mother russia from the US.

 

Russia doesn't want them. It has become Americanised.

The bitter cold takes care of the homeless there.

 

i was referring to going to russia in the 20th century..1950's etc.

 

Isn't voting democrat also considered a disability these days?

Seriously, I did some research to figure out where the people falling off the 99 weeks of unemployment were going. There were two places and one of them was disability.

The numbers were quite clear if one looked for them.

 

If we compare numbers from 1961 to 2011 we will find the following, in 1961 Heart Disease and Stroke was the leader with 25.7 % compared to today where Back Pain and Other Musculoskeletal Problems leads with 33.8 %. It happens to be a fact that more workers are getting injured in this way due to the fact that companies are doing a lot more work with a lot less workers these days. Repetitive work at a high pace will eventually injure anyone. That’s just the way it is. I’ve worked in production before and I can tell you that approximately a metric ton went through my hands daily even though I was never lifting more than 20 lbs. Do it for years and eventually you’ll develop musculoskeletal problems.

http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/?wpisrc=nl_wonk

Sure this article makes some good points but for the most part the guy writing it comes off as a shit eater who has never done physical labor in his life.

People with back pain won’t be able to do any of those jobs. Back pain is a general definition that doesn’t seem like much but in reality it could be anything from herniated disks to muscle and nerve damage. You won’t be able to do any of these jobs with “back pain”. We're not talking about "Oh man, I just woke up this morning and my back is sore." back pain. The guy writing this article has never done serious labor in his life which is why he doesn't know much about people not being physically able to work. The fact that he's mocking Ethel Thomas an older woman for not being able to work and wanting a job where she'll get to sit down for a change while he makes his living from writing articles and sitting on his ass is ridiculous. The guy needs to STFU in this case.

I actually consider someone with a bypass and a heart attack to be a good candidate for disability. Strenuous work could kill them. According to statistics from 1961 and 2011 the government agrees with me. In fact, Heart Disease and Stroke has dropped to 10.6% since 1961. I guess the author can't use this one as an argument because people are not claiming disability for it as much as they used to. It's been cut in half since 1961. If you look at the percentages chart you will see that Mental Illness has about doubled from 1961 but Neurological Disorders has been cut in half. The Other category was a lot larger too with 22.4 % then and only 7.7 % now. The major increases today come in Mental Illness at 19.2 % and Musculoskeletal Problems at 33.8 %. These increases are legitimate considering the changing workplace.

 

In the UK they are bringing in curbs to benefits for families > 5 kids and more for > 10.

They have nothing else to do all day.