The Human Condition: A look at values

By Daniel Schnee on December 8, 2021.

As a member of the Bipolar Disorder community, I try to advocate for both my mentally ill brothers and sisters, and the kinds of values we should all share as a society. This week I fortunately, or unfortunately, get to do it again in response to a recent comment in the Medicine Hat News.

A well meaning citizen wrote in to say that they were ticked off over people “not having to work for a living just getting a cheque, what values is this instilling? Where do you think the money comes from? And I am not talking about pensioners either.”

I totally agree. If someone is receiving unwarranted assistance from some institution, that certainly is unacceptable. But unfortunately the commenter’s slightly vague wording acts as a kind of coded message: someone is leeching off the system, and those of us with good values who built the system are on to you. If, as stated, pensioners specifically are not to blame, then by insinuation it is the other recipients of cheques from the government: people on E.I. and AISH, who are thus scamming a permanent vacation off of the backs of good Albertans.

“Not having to” work for a living assumes this is the desired result, which is very far from the truth. Losing your job is not the same as “not having to work,” and losing your dreams does not fulfill those same dreams. Your reason for being has been stolen by life itself, and E.I. does not provide an enjoyable replacement lifestyle. An AISH cheque is a grim reminder, not a pleasant retirement.

There is also the issue of the “SH” in AISH, which stands for “severely handicapped.” This means extreme disability, and often, great pain. Even able-bodied recipients may be greatly impeded by severe emotional conditions, such as Bipolar Disorder. Also, people on AISH are not all 100% funded. Many only require or get partial funding, so they are hard working and courageous in their battle against mental illness, disability and pain in order to keep working.

People also have their values instilled long before they lose their job or physical health. A great many paid taxes and were charitable long before receiving assistance, so it did not teach but rather reinforce pre-existing values such as humility, thankfulness, diligence, etc. Financial assistance sustains hope, which in turn helps people retain positive values in the face of hopeless, depression, pain, devastation and suicidal thoughts.

There is also no way of knowing what exact amount of a person’s taxes pay for any particular recipient, so the idea they are taking our taxes specifically is a non-sequitur. My individual taxes could be paying for infrastructure alone. Thus, vicariously accusing them of “stealing” your money makes it a theological issue: the jobless are immoral, not unemployed. Schizophrenia becomes a moral failing in that sense; staying alive an act of fraud.

Are there scammers in any social structure? Yes, sometimes even within the very religious organizations where we E.I. and AISH recipients learn our values. Therefore we must correctly assess various social problems, and work with the unemployed and handicapped to keep them from needing assistance in the first place. If we do not, then it is our own values that should be questioned, not theirs.

Dr. Daniel Schnee is an anthropologist who studies Japanese creative culture