Stigma Around Deaf / Tinnitus Sufferers and Disability Benefits

I've not posted in a while, but I just couldn't stand this any longer. I ranted for half an hour to my current partner about the state of deaf disability benefits. I do not collect, although I may in the future because my financial situation has definitely been affected by having to spend $4,000+ on hearing aids and doctors visits in the past 2 months where my rent is $500. I'm not even including other expenses I've made earlier this year.

I'm well into the 5 figure range now for what I've spent, and I'm unable to spend any more. I've maxed out my credit cards, I've taken personal loans that I cannot repay and will probably file bankruptcy. My family has helped pay for certain bills, and I know in that sense I'm lucky.

I'm also in a better position in that I can still hear, but mainly the tinnitus is the culprit for this destruction.

And with that... I know there's plenty of people who are deaf AND have tinnitus AND hyperacusis. There's also plenty with that + vision problems and other physical health problems, leading to mental health problems. F.e. the elderly, the ones who got tinnitus from chemo and antibiotics, those who went through physical trauma like car crashes and fights, etc.

And so, I'm shocked that when my city announced that those who are deaf and those who are blind will be able to ride for FREE public transportation, people on Facebook started posting about higher taxes and complaining that "if they get to ride for free, everyone should ride for free!". I'm just so pissed off at these types of people. I can't withhold my anger, I literally wish for them to step into my shoes for a few days. I'd want them to feel the pain and utter suffering.

I'm happy and posted a supportive message for those who will be affected by the new policy changes starting Dec. 25th. Let them ride for free! I mean, at worse it's less than $80 per month for monthly riders. If someone only uses a few days of the month, it's a few dollars per deaf person. How many deaf are there in a city of 1.7 million? "Across all age groups, approximately 600,000 people in the United States (0.22% of the population, or 2.2 per 1,000) are "deaf;" more than half are over 65 years of age." That comes from a 2005 post about US stats. So let's just use that... if out of 1.7 million people, only .22% are legally deaf, that means that even a stat of half a percentage would be 8,500 people. So half of that .25% compared to .22% would be 4,250 people.

4,250 people at let's say an average of 200 PLN per month $52.06 would be $221,255 monthly or $2,655,060 annually. But realistically, those people would be paying for REDUCED rates anyways since they're disabled. However let's compare that number to the amount Poland spent on a very controversial program: 500+ where they pay every family for their second child 500 PLN per month. And if you have a third and 4th child, that's 1,500 PLN per month.

3.62 million children fall under this program, which results in annual costs of 67,000,000,000 PLN or $17.44 billion. Since its 3.62 million out of the entire country's population of 37.98 million, let's just do 37.98 / 1.7 (to represent Warsaw) and then use that answer of 22.3411764706 to divide the 67 billion. 2,998,946,814.11 to usd would be 780,782,550.68...

Obviously these are just rough numbers, and this problem is very complex... BUT IF THE GOVERNMENT decided that hey, let's make it free for the deaf and others who have similar problems who cannot work normal jobs, then they probably went through the numbers themselves and saw it's nothing compared to how much they spent on transportation, military costs, education, retirement, healthcare, etc.

But no, Janusz Kowalski has to complain that his TAXES WILL GO UP! Oh wow, an extra few cents probably. As if the government didn't waste millions on other issues. This isn't meant to be a political post, I don't support nor promote ANY political party in Poland... but I'm just emotionally drained after this past year. I hate how little empathy people have and how little understanding of this horrible, torture. If I ever find a way to make money again, of course I'll donate a good chunk to research and helping speed this up.

But on a positive note, at least there's SOME progress being made over here for the disabled.