AIBU to think that all the recent threads about benefits are heading too far towards online bullying?

[LeopardsRockingham]

The way disabled people are being treated and spoken about on here in recent days is disgusting. It is verging on online hate crimes and if ithey were about other marginalised groups would not have been allowed to stand by MNHQ.

The disinformation, the sneering, the complete lack of compassion from so many Mumsnetters is vile.

Disability for the very most part isn't something that people bring onto themselves. Parents don't do anything but have different luck to you and have a disabled child.

My genetics are different to yours so I have a fucked up immune system and the host of problems that has given me.

My DH had a horrific upbringing which has led him to have MH problems- he works by the way. I did too for a long time until my body couldn't cope.

My DC was injured at birth due to a hospital fault.

My neighbour fell off his bike and has a traumatic brain injury.

My friend has breast cancer.

My cousin is dead at 38 due to epilepsy.

My nephew is so unhappy due to his ADHD bot letting him fit in at school and my sister is having trouble helping him through it due to hers.

Why are we so unworthy to you?

Are we not due the same courtesy of online treatment as those of different races and religion...or does that go out the window as you pay for us?

@MNHQ why is it acceptable for you to allow your users to bully the marginalised on this site?

I’m so sorry for your loss and struggles OP 💐

I thought all the benefits bashing threads the tories trying to drum up votes tbh! So mostly ignored on that basis.

I totally agree that there has been a lot of sneering and “but we don’t get any money…” posts. It makes me think “what aspect of your health or your children’s health would you be willing to give up for extra money then?”.

What sort of disabilities prevent someone from drinking and getting stoned?
The people I know that do, do so to cope or self medicate their health conditions.

People aren’t usually addicts for no reason. I know MN refuses to accept that, but it’s true. There are usually things behind it, which in turn stops people from having a stable life into adulthood.

Well we evidently don't know the same people then, do we?!

And some of them are just lazy!

Does it matter what they actually do in their spare time? Why does it matter to you?

And if they are stoned and pissed all day.. then they are not fit to work anyway.

Because I work hard and pay my taxes to keep them entertained apparently.

Your thought processes are very niave and simplistic. They can be ‘’lazy’’ for many reasons. People who end up like that find it very hard to fit in or function in a healthy way. But I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain the complexities of it to someone showing that level of ignorance because it never ends well.

Well, is it right that we then foot the bill for this sort of lifestyle choice then?

I'm so sorry you and so many disabled people are treated like this OP. It's disgusting. The government has done a brilliant job of portraying disabled people as work shy scroungers, living off tax payers money. My DS has autism and ADHD and can only work part time and I get so many comment about how he 'looks perfectly capable of working'. There's a real lack of understanding of how disability affects people and how what someone is capable of can vary from one day to the next.

Come live on my council estate for a while and then see how ignorant you think I am!

I agree 100% @LeopardsRockingham But sadly, you have just created another thread for it to happen on now. The other threads were filling up, and not far from being full (so no-one else could post on them,) and now you have started another one.

This will go the same way. I bet the ableists and haters are rubbing their hands with glee.

Only on the first page - and there are already signs of bigotry and negativity towards the disabled/people on benefits!

And this sort of thinking is exactly what OP is on about... because some of those "lazy" people are on MN and seeing what you think of them.

wtf

People living on council estates have often had a life of deprivation and poverty, poorly brought up etc, generational trauma. Yes, you’re ignorant.

Not at all. I have spent several years working with some people who are not disabled or unwell, but have made a conscious decision not to work and to claim benefits instead.

What have you seen that would be considered a hate crime?

All of the examples you provide deserve sympathy, but taken together they demonstrate the sheer scale of the problem. The growing number of people qualifying for disability benefits is an issue, and there needs to be a respectful conversation about it. Bullying I have absolutely no time for though.

Even if we deal with all the big business/tax dodgers/landlords/CEO salaries etc, we will still have limited public resources. We can either support a smaller group of very vulnerable disabled people to a significant extent, or a wider group of somewhat vulnerable disabled people to a lesser extent. And vulnerability is partially determined by a person’s existing resources, so the question of means testing should on the table.

Literally the first reply is straight to lazy drunk stoners wAsTiNg My TaXeS! Impossible.

Back the point about the threads being on-line bullying.

I don't think they are bullying. Because no-one is forced to read them. People chose to come to this type of forum. It's different to getting nasty messages directly aimed at you via direct messages that appear on your phone, in your inbox etc.

And mostly you can judge the likely tone of a thread by the title, so it can be avoided.

Whatever you want to think.

If they are not disabled or unwell, they they will have work commitments and be on the lowest rate of benefits with threat of sanction.

It’s not what I think, it’s the truth, whether you want to believe it or keep being willfully ignorant it doesn’t change that fact 🤣