Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Disabled again on BC Liberals' Hit List



Classic liberalism to Mullaly: “government spending distorts market forces and budget deficits (Mullaly, 2007, 93).”
Have you ever read an article online, in a library, or in a newspaper and have been so bothered at how evil people in our country, Canada can actually be? Well, I certainly felt bothered after I read the article, Disabled again on BC Liberals’ Hit List.
By taking in Mullaly’s beliefs, the Liberal Government of British Columbia does not spend their money effectively. As a result, the British Columbian “government has slashed social assistance to save $25 million over two years (Tieleman, 2010).” Therefore, people on social assistance will suffer greatly. However, people who have disabilities, whether it be mentally or physically will suffer the most, along with the poor.
Tieleman expresses that people with a significant neurological degeneration cannot receive the Monthly Nutritional Supplement they used to receive; unless they qualify for another specific condition as well. “Because poor people and those with disabilities who are deprived of healthy food and shelter get sick- so sick they end up in the hospital for expensive treatment, cuts will cost the health system more (Tieleman, 2010).” Unfortunately, a large number of Canadians suffer from mental illnesses at some point of their lives. The Liberal Government is making the poor, the sick, and the disabled feel despondent, hopeless, and angry at themselves and the government. Therefore, serious thoughts should be considered.
I cannot believe that the liberal government slashed social assistance to save the government money. The liberal government is one that is supposed to believe in equality for its citizens. How is slashing social assistance fair to the poor? The majority of individuals who are in poverty and who are poor are those with mental illnesses, therefore the government is greatly affecting individuals with mental illnesses and their families. As if they are not suffering enough. As noted above, Tieleman expresses that people with a significant neurological degeneration cannot receive the Monthly Nutritional Supplement they used to receive; unless they qualify for another specific condition as well. In my opinion, this is not fair. I know, and many would agree that individuals who are poor or on social assistance are not as healthy as individuals who are not poor or not on social assistance; because those who are poor have very limited amounts of money to spend on food. The government thinks that as long as one has at least two of the qualifying conditions, they are able to receive the supplement. I think this is unrealistic considering many individuals are unable to qualify for more than one. Individuals with mental illnesses do spend great amounts of time in the hospital because they do not always receive the treatment they need, and they cannot always take care of themselves. I believe that if the liberal government decides to act like liberals, society will benefit, mainly individuals with mental illnesses and the poor.
The liberal government appears to be having money issues. They state a contributor is the fact that the poor and people with mental illnesses require hospital stays that are quite costly. In order to prevent high hospital costs, and to have a healthier and happier society, the liberal government needs to spend money on providing more mental health services and programs, that will be available to all people with mental illnesses, including the poor. In the long run, this will decrease the high costs of hospital stays as individuals with mental illnesses will be healthier from the proper treatments they will receive. If the government were to fall through with this, society would benefit.

Mullaly, B. (2007). The New Structural Social Work (3rd ed.). Canada: Oxford University Press.

Tieleman, B. (03/09/2010, March 9). Disabled again on BC Liberals' Hit List. Retrieved from The Tyee

Ashley R.

4 comments:

  1. Great blog Ashley! I think it's awesome how your point is so clearly said! I totally see what you mean about being frustrated with injustice...it's so sad and unfair how profit is so often put at a higher priority than people's needs. There's definitely something wrong with society when profit comes before people.

    Sarah H

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  2. Outstanding post and very interesting ideas you brought up Ashley. It still boggles my mind when you hear of such unjustful things, but when it happens in Canada and CONTINUES to happen time and time again, it’s unfathomable. So heres a smart idea, we have people in need throughout Canada, and social assistance gets them that help, whether it be through some financial or social assistance programs. And heres a dumb idea, cut funding too those that need it and save $25 million, some how that fixes the problem? I just don’t understand how decisions can be made so cold-heartedly, and God forbid the idea to cut funding from things that have no relevance in improving the lives of Canadians.

    I also agree that if funding continues to be made available in both prevention and ongoing issues, that society will reap the benefits of such actions and in turn, would make society healthier and stronger, therefore, a happier society is a more efficient one.

    -Rocco Scarcella

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  3. wow, i didn't realize this was what was going on. It is a bit of a reminder that one person can be treated to differently than another.

    I really enjoyed your post Ashley.

    I completely agree with you when you said that if funding continued to be contributed to mental health clinics things would improve. Our world is driven by money these days and it seems that the government is more worried about spending too much money than actually helping the citizens who are in dire need.

    When you mentioned the fact that the Liberal government is in a sense leaving a bad taste in the mouths of the sick and the poor by hindering them, your right. It made me think of how I would feel if i was receiving the treatment that they were receiving even though I considered myself to be a citizen of the country like the rest of society around me I think I would have the same reaction. It just seems so unfair and so cruel.

    Dana W

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  4. Everything is driven by money, if people were to just people others before them, people in need would benefit greatly from it. It disgusts me how our world operates these days I think it's time for a change
    -carly

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