I came across a post on Facebook this morning about a young violin teacher who also performs at functions. He has just been diagnosed with myocarditis after a bad bout of tonsilitis. Fortunately it should only impact him for about 6 months, but he has to rest and get other performers for around 45 gigs lined up over the next few months. Looking at his bio he seems to be a "hardworking" professional in his field, and from a "good stable" background. I don't think he's UK based, so doubt he's rushing out to blag a free car and house from the state.
I'm writing about it from the perspective of never knowing what's around the corner, regardless of one's circumstances.
He is one of a legion of people who "do everything right" and wake up one morning to a body that has turned on them and left them in the hands of a multitude of professionals and whatever systems operate where they reside. Someone who has to completely alter their lifestyle, adjust physically and mentally to changes outside of their immediate control and try to do it with good grace.
And those who are judged to not have "done everything right" are usually in that position for a myriad of reasons - financial, emotional, genetic etc etc.
Those who are disadvantaged from birth have families that love, care and struggle every day to achieve any semblance of dignity and comfort because economics trumps humanitarian concern more and more.
Given the explosion in technological advancements over the last few decades, and our ever growing understanding of the human condition, we have a wealth of resources that could improve things for everyone across the board.
But no, we feed the industrial military complex, the egos of billionaires, and we prioritise pouring money into the coffers of those whose outlook is positively Smaug or Scrooge like.
It utterly beggars belief that we have things like Christian Nationalism, which is as far from any of Christs teachings as you can get, on the rise, the promotion of eugenecist ideas, white supremacy being touted as virtually mainstream, women being regarded again as the source of all ills etc etc.... and no I am not religious myself in a mainstream sense, I am just hugely attuned to hypocrisy.
We are all here by accident of birth, and we are all subject to the whims of Fate.
When people post about their anxieties around repeating dark periods in our relatively recent history, they are belittled and accused of hyperbole. But it is happening in front of our eyes. So we don't have the uniforms or the camps (yet) but it's the insidious creeping mindset that is the issue. Drip drip drip the poison, divide, scapegoat, problem......solution?
It starts with a balance sheet and the "unfairness" of the provision of housing and in this case Motability cars. It's ridiculous and pathetic to look at those living the most challenging lives and feel aggrieved that they have been afforded some semblance of normality when so much is off limits to them.
Sure, many are struggling right now. But I repeat, it's not down to various groups of the systemically disadvantaged. It's down to poor management, outright corruption, bureaucracy out of control and over inflated egos at the top of the tree.
So take the Motability Mercedes / free houses / stately home visits and whatever else is bugging you at the behest of the populist media and really look at the bigger picture, because in the Shitty Life Lottery, one day it could be you, and that Motability car won't be there, and suddenly your ability to get to appointments for your life limiting or threatening condition will be dependent on patchy and inaccessible public transport or hard to organise hospital transport or the largesse of friends or family who may give you the side eye because they've read an article that suggests you shouldn't be that disabled by whatever is significantly impacting you.
And that's the last point. The horrible existential dread faced by so many when they realise they are being judged as "less than" because the rug got pulled out from under your feet due to the arbitrary misbehavior of your meat suit. It needs to stop. This is the true meaning of unfairness.