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COVID-19 unemployment discussion (posts moved from Uhall)

ShriNayne

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I know a lot of people that would rather stay home and do nothing for 80% pay than go back to work and have to work all day for the extra 20%, my husband is not quite in that category as he works for the Government on software so he is getting paid to work from home, he's still not looking forward to going back though!
 

Fridgster

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I know a lot of people that would rather stay home and do nothing for 80% pay than go back to work and have to work all day for the extra 20%, my husband is not quite in that category as he works for the Government on software so he is getting paid to work from home, he's still not looking forward to going back though!
The misses is a daycare teacher. She was laid off and is literally making nearly double what she was whole working. I'm not sure we can afford her to go back to work :gee:
 

Captn Norrington

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The unemployment thing is rather absurd here in Florida too. Ours is now $875 per week plus still getting other benefits like food stamps etc. which makes it more like $1,000 per week total just to sit at home doing nothing, and it lasts for 6 months. So anyone regardless of what they were making before here are now effectively making $52,000 per year for 6 months to do absolutely nothing. That means an unemployed married couple who used to make minimum wage ($17k per person, $34k combined here) are now effectively making $104,000 per year for the next 6 months....to do nothing.
 

Fridgster

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The unemployment thing is rather absurd here in Florida too. Ours is now $875 per week plus still getting other benefits like food stamps etc. which makes it more like $1,000 per week total just to sit at home doing nothing, and it lasts for 6 months. So anyone regardless of what they were making before here are now effectively making $52,000 per year for 6 months to do absolutely nothing. That means an unemployed married couple who used to make minimum wage ($17k per person, $34k combined here) are now effectively making $104,000 per year for the next 6 months....to do nothing.
Yeap definitely strange times. On the bright side the misses and I have been able to save for a downpayment on a second home
 

skett

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Here in California it’s so unemployment is so screwed up that undocumented people (illegals) can collect unemployment while me and my wife can’t get 1 red cents of not even the $500 for each child or the $1200 stimulus. I honestly don’t need any sort of governmental help just saying those that do can’t and those that shouldn’t be get help are. I hate this state lol

Also I’ve posted this before the 90 day game needs to end immediately!

As far as “right thing to do” it’s just a game not a necessity and I agree with others that don’t want the devs messing with the housing system and unfair to paying customers not to be able to use that system
 

GarthGrey

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Its only like 15 bucks every 3 months to keep your house. If you cant come up with that, you have problems worse then worrying about pixel crack. If you don't think you can pay, bank it! Come back when you can. Please for the love of everything, Don't Mess With Housing Code!!
This is why it's an abused system. 5.00/mo for extreme increased storage. Open an account, place a house, cancel the account and pay 15/3 month to maintain your storage.
 

GarthGrey

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The misses is a daycare teacher. She was laid off and is literally making nearly double what she was whole working. I'm not sure we can afford her to go back to work :gee:
What state do you live in where unemployment benefits are forever ? That money's gonna run out for her soon.
 

Fridgster

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What state do you live in where unemployment benefits are forever ? That money's gonna run out for her soon.
She goes back this monday. For 3 months we banked a little over 10k total and we already had 10k saved.
 

MalagAste

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Here if you want to qualify for unemployment though you have to have worked for a year... so most folk who really need it ... those who've just changed their job or just got a job after whatever problem they had they are suffering without an income and without all the restaurants and such being open to work at they are struggling to find a job. Yet my "bonus" boy who worked for a long time at a restaurant is making more not working than he was working... even though he worked there near 14 years or more... sad... What's really sad is a lot of companies around here use temp services to avoid paying employee benefits... so 1/2 their workforce works for a few short weeks and are then moved to another plant to work a few weeks ... meanwhile, the temp agencies are not paying them benefits either because they will keep them off work for a few weeks in between claiming they don't have anything for them. This is something that's been going on for years now... keeping many from getting full-time employment shuffling them from plant to plant. Though I'm glad the chicken plant in town folded because I am sure that they would have had a massive outbreak there.

As for me, I was making less because the hospital where I work had to have us cut hours until they got a stimulus help to stay open. They even asked many employees to take a voluntary cut back... Dozens were not working... I was seriously in fear that I would lose my job as the hospital is bleeding money like mad with no one having surgery, no one going to the Dr much at all and no one needing services being told to stay home if they have symptoms at all unless they are needing serious help... No therapy, no sleep lab, no one at the outpatient clinics... and such was pretty bad. Though they have started doing those things again slowly ... I worry constantly that we are headed for another serious bloom of critically ill patients... Seen too many as is... and worry all the time that it will hit more of the local nursing facilities around. With the high number of elderly in my state, it is a serious threat... I still worry about the hospital folding and losing my job.

While many want everyone to get back to work and be making money I have my own worries where I work... and fortunately, I have been able to avoid getting it myself... but it's certainly only a matter of time.
 

MalagAste

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Most of those protesters don't want to go back to work. They want to go into crowded places. Like beaches, movies, restaurants, etc.
I'd rather they didn't... seriously. I have seen enough.
 

Xare

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In regards to the more money from unemployment than from working: maybe we should quit paying people jackcake? Or set up universal basic income.
 

Fridgster

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In regards to the more money from unemployment than from working: maybe we should quit paying people jackcake? Or set up universal basic income.
This maybe a topic for off topic but I'll just say this, going down the socialism route just doesn't work. There are many examples but most recently would be Venezuela. Until the early 80's Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In 81 I believe they moved from a democratic system to a socialist system. Look where they are now. I love the concept of socialism, unfortunately human nature just won't allow it to work.
 

MalagAste

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This maybe a topic for off topic but I'll just say this, going down the socialism route just doesn't work. There are many examples but most recently would be Venezuela. Until the early 80's Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In 81 I believe they moved from a democratic system to a socialist system. Look where they are now. I love the concept of socialism, unfortunately human nature just won't allow it to work.
Most systems including our own do not work because of corruption... not because the concept was bad or poor... the question is are the people in the country better off or worse on average? It isn't the nation as a whole it's the people who make the nation great. If they are starving and suffering then there is a problem.

But I don't want to debate politics... socialism or otherwise...

Human nature is sadly not good... and you see it everywhere including in-game... I'll leave it at that.
 

Stinky Pete

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Come on guys, if you're going to have an off-topic political chat here, the least you could do is make it interesting. I would use my temporary mod powers if I had them to remove all these garbage posts, but they're just so damn boring, I would hate to waste any more time on them than I spent reading them.

Back on topic, I don't give a ripping poo if you can't afford $15 every three months to keep your house standing. When it falls, maybe someone with a job will put one in it's place. Also, the devs don't owe you or anyone else a damn thing, deal with it.
 

tanotan

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In Germany you get for 12 month unemployment money. That is 60% of your former income and 67% when you have kids at home. If you are 50 years old, you get the money for 15 month and if you are older than 55, you get the money for 18 month. Further more, most people have the possibility to do "short-time work" before they get unemployed. Thats 60% of your income, too and 67% with kids at home. On"short-time-work", you are considered employed, but you work normally only 50% of the normal working time. While unemployed or on"short-time-work", people keep their health insurances and their "upkeep payments" for their later pensions.
 
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Captn Norrington

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In Germany you get for 12 month unemployment money. That is 60% of your former income and 67% when you have kids at home. If you are 50 years ols, you get the money for 15 month and if you are older than 55, you get the money for 18 month. Further more, most people have the possibility to do "short-time work" before they get unemployed. Thats 60% of your income, too and 67% with kids at home. On"short-time-work", you are considered employed, but you work normally only 50% of the normal working time. While unemployed or on"short-time-work", people keep their health insurances and their "upkeep payments" for their later pensions.
Germany seems to have a incredibly generous system. In the United States under normal circumstances, you can get fired with no notice whatsoever (some people's managers don't even tell them, they just show up for work and find out they're locked out of the building one day) and lose all your benefits immediately. No pension, no health insurance, nothing. Then it takes about 1-2 months to apply for unemployment, and if you're approved the maximum the government will pay you in my state is $275 per week, and only if you paid a certain amount in taxes over the last year. Most lower wage workers only get about $150 per week. It lasts for 3 months. There are no additional benefits for having children. Also, if you voluntarily quit or your former employer fired you "for cause" like being late a lot etc. then you get absolutely nothing and do not qualify for a single dollar in unemployment benefits.
 

tanotan

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Germany seems to have a incredibly generous system. In the United States under normal circumstances, you can get fired with no notice whatsoever (some people's managers don't even tell them, they just show up for work and find out they're locked out of the building one day) and lose all your benefits immediately. No pension, no health insurance, nothing. Then it takes about 1-2 months to apply for unemployment, and if you're approved the maximum the government will pay you in my state is $275 per week, and only if you paid a certain amount in taxes over the last year. Most lower wage workers only get about $150 per week. It lasts for 3 months. There are no additional benefits for having children. Also, if you voluntarily quit or your former employer fired you "for cause" like being late a lot etc. then you get absolutely nothing and do not qualify for a single dollar in unemployment benefits.
Thats a shame, for working people in the United States. In Germany, you normaly can be fired at work with a delay of three month, sometimes much longer (six month up to a year before getting unemployed, depending on how many years you were working for that company). It is nomally impossible to loose your place for work from one day to another day (in exception of stealing money from that company or something like that).
 

Lord Frodo

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Taxes/cost of goods must be outrageous in Germany to pay for all that unemployment. Now I understand why gas is 2 times the cost in Germany than the US, they must tax the hell out of it to pay for all their goodies.
 

Stinky Pete

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Thats a shame, for working people in the United States. In Germany, you normaly can be fired at work with a delay of three month, sometimes much longer (six month up to a year before getting unemployed, depending on how many years you were working for that company). It is nomally impossible to loose your place for work from one day to another day (in exception of stealing money from that company or something like that).
So wait.... I can get a job, work hard for 6 months, then go in one day and do nothing all day, refusing to do any work, and the company has to pay me to do this for 3 months before giving me unemployment for a year?
 

Scribbles

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The biggest problem ive seen with unemployment is the same problem with raising a federal minimum wage. America has several different economies. Depending on where you live the cost of living varies greatly. Example: if you were to live in the middle of no where kansas, nebraska, oklahoma your cost of living is far lower than say new york, LA, seattle, Denver, Austin etc.

I blanket statement will never do in these situations. These types of things need to be done region by region. With that said, Good luck having a bunch of politicians decide and come to agreement on any of this. Only people i think are more incompetent than the UO staff is the federal government. :)
 

morPR

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in my defense, doing "nothing" is impossible. Lots of peeps on welfare or disability seet a bad example by doing drugs or drinking.

It is depresssing when you have depression or a mental illness. The best thing to do is work on yourself. Goto therapy, goto support groups, take your meds, do your ADLs. Try to lose weight.

But anyway, I have certain safety nets ... I receive monthly SSDI of $840 plus food stamps. Medicare & Medicaid. All in all, that's not a lot but I have to shoulder the responcibility of being seen as a burden to others or a do nothing.

I spend a lot of time looking for part time jobs but nobody hired me in the competitive market. Now that I have healt hissus and am 100 lbs heavier it is hard to find work and not work over certain limits the gov't pushes on us for part time hours only. If you earn too much, you lose benefits.


And let's not forget why we are suddenly talking about unemployment: COVID 19. THis sin't isn't my fault. It's not my fault the gov't shut down uhj...... 60% or more of the jobs that were out there including small business and "non essential" jobs. It's an artifically created depression thanks to paranoia from spreading a disease. This is a virus issue, not an issue of some peeps being laszy.
 

tanotan

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So wait.... I can get a job, work hard for 6 months, then go in one day and do nothing all day, refusing to do any work, and the company has to pay me to do this for 3 months before giving me unemployment for a year?
that would be fine...but no, of course not! My explanation was the short story. First of all you have to be employed for a time of minimum two years and your boss must have paid the social security contributions to get unemployment money in Germany. Further more you must have been fired to get the unemployment money. If you quit your place for work on your own, you normally get no unemployment money. :)
If your started a new job at a new place of work in germany, you normally have something like a trial period. Your boss can quit your work within one week and you may do the same. This period normally lasts for the first half year of your employment time at your new place of work.
In Germany, at the moment there is a covid-19 bonus of 3 month longer payment of unemployment money, if your normal period, of getting payed that money, runs out in 2020. So you get 15 month payed instead of 12 month and so on.
 
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GarthGrey

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UO was full of SSI/Welfare players way before Covid 19, what does this have to do with the thread ? Nothing :)
 

Xare

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Considering this was a handful of posts from another thread that got split off and move (appropriately I might add), I'm not sure what your beef is?

Come on guys, if you're going to have an off-topic political chat here, the least you could do is make it interesting. I would use my temporary mod powers if I had them to remove all these garbage posts, but they're just so damn boring, I would hate to waste any more time on them than I spent reading them.

Back on topic, I don't give a ripping poo if you can't afford $15 every three months to keep your house standing. When it falls, maybe someone with a job will put one in it's place. Also, the devs don't owe you or anyone else a damn thing, deal with it.
How can we make this more entertaining for you? How about we start a discussion about the moral failures if the US health care system, or, even better, the moral failures of pretty much all public services?
 

Captn Norrington

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This is the new Stratics, where off-topic posts are deserving of their own threads in the off-topic channel geeez. The thread was literally renamed
"COVID-19 unemployment discussion"
I'm the one who split it off from the main thread. While a thread cleanup and post deletions would have technically been justifiable as well, I thought that would be kind of stupid to erase the popular discussion people were enjoying just because it happened in the wrong place, when it didn't break any rules other than being off topic. So it was given a new home in the off topic section. I chose that title since it seemed to be what the majority of the posts were about at the time.

I should point out though, that there is a rule against political discussion even in the off topic section (things got....quite unpleasant and vicious....on here for a few days after Trump won, so the rule was created to prevent things like that). This thread is mostly an economic discussion so the small bits of politics in it are fine so far, it just can't go full blown political.
 

Captn Norrington

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in my defense, doing "nothing" is impossible. Lots of peeps on welfare or disability seet a bad example by doing drugs or drinking.

It is depresssing when you have depression or a mental illness. The best thing to do is work on yourself. Goto therapy, goto support groups, take your meds, do your ADLs. Try to lose weight.

But anyway, I have certain safety nets ... I receive monthly SSDI of $840 plus food stamps. Medicare & Medicaid. All in all, that's not a lot but I have to shoulder the responcibility of being seen as a burden to others or a do nothing.

I spend a lot of time looking for part time jobs but nobody hired me in the competitive market. Now that I have healt hissus and am 100 lbs heavier it is hard to find work and not work over certain limits the gov't pushes on us for part time hours only. If you earn too much, you lose benefits.


And let's not forget why we are suddenly talking about unemployment: COVID 19. THis sin't isn't my fault. It's not my fault the gov't shut down uhj...... 60% or more of the jobs that were out there including small business and "non essential" jobs. It's an artifically created depression thanks to paranoia from spreading a disease. This is a virus issue, not an issue of some peeps being laszy.
I'd just like to point out that most (informed) people don't group SSDI recipients into the "do nothing and burden" category like with unemployment and some other social assistance programs, so you shouldn't feel bad at all about that.

I worked as an SSI/SSDI paralegal at a law firm for a year, and after experiencing first hand what a truly mind-blowingly terribly run organization the Social Security Administration is I would never say an SSDI recipient is a freeloader. It took us about 3-5 years, multiple applications/appeals, and a court hearing with a hopefully sympathetic judge to win SSDI, sometimes even for clients with undeniably legitimate disabilities no one could possibly question like missing limbs. We were the top firm in that half of the state too, so the other firms actually took even longer. Fun fact, SSA doesn't consider stage 4 cancer worthy of collecting money for it unless it's "in a vital organ"....despite the fact that stage 4 means it is metastatic and has spread to all parts of the body, which is almost guaranteed death. I saw about 7 of our clients die of their disabilities while waiting for a hearing because their appeals were denied for not being disabling enough.

True story, I worked with one client in his 50's who had over 20 surgeries, a 10,000 page medical record of at least 5 serious conditions (which I had to read and digitize in its entirety for court preparations......) who was genuinely illiterate to the point where I had to read him everything written down and he signed his name with an X, who while waiting for the hearing fell off his porch and broke his spine/neck.....and the judge STILL denied him and said he was capable of working a month later.

SSI is different, most of our SSI clients were just homeless people looking for free money because there's no medical component required for it, and yes we frequently dropped clients after discovering they were doing hardcore drugs or were dealers, or had been sentenced to prison (part of my job was looking up jail records to see how many of our clients got arrested that month....it happened that often) but it is nearly impossible for someone to get SSDI without a legitimate medical reason for it which really does prevent them from working, along with a crapton of medical documentation showing years/decades worth of pain, so they are not a freeloader. There are lots of legitimate SSI cases as well like mentally handicapped people without physical impairments and children, but it's harder to judge that one due to the very low criteria to get it.

The income limits do indeed basically trap people permanently into the SSDI income level for life. If I remember correctly, it was something like $800 is the maximum they were allowed to make per month in addition to their SSDI from a part time job, and the average SSDI was like $1,100 per month. So essentially none of our clients could ever make more than like $22k a year for the rest of their lives, if they tried they lost all their benefits and had to spend 3-5 years reapplying, and if they couldn't get a part time job they only made like $13k per year for life.
 

Xare

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The income limits do indeed basically trap people permanently into the SSDI income level for life. If I remember correctly, it was something like $800 is the maximum they were allowed to make per month in addition to their SSDI from a part time job, and the average SSDI was like $1,100 per month. So essentially none of our clients could ever make more than like $22k a year for the rest of their lives, if they tried they lost all their benefits and had to spend 3-5 years reapplying, and if they couldn't get a part time job they only made like $13k per year for life.
This part is the most frustrating thing about any social benefit program; they trap the users of them into it. Its similar with all TANF, food stamps, etc. Say a person is able to make more, but will lose benefits, and the benefits lost have a higher value than the increase pay; what reason, aside for self-imposed morals, should this person take the higher pay? I'm not saying they're wrong to stay in the lower pay, because everyone has to do what they can to survive.

Also, thanks for breaking it out instead of deleting it!
 

petemage

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Taxes/cost of goods must be outrageous in Germany to pay for all that unemployment. Now I understand why gas is 2 times the cost in Germany than the US, they must tax the hell out of it to pay for all their goodies.
In short we call it "principle of solidarity". It works the same for healthcare. You break your leg. You go to a doctor. Healthcare will pay for it on basis of solidarity where everyone has to pay his fair share. Same for unemployment.
 

Xare

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In short we call it "principle of solidarity". It works the same for healthcare. You break your leg. You go to a doctor. Healthcare will pay for it on basis of solidarity where everyone has to pay his fair share. Same for unemployment.
Fair share is a dangerous term. Who defines what is fair? It could easily be said that everyone paying the same portion is fair. Could also be said that everyone paying a progressive rate is fair too. I don't disagree with the overall sentiment, but its vaguely worded.
 

Lord Frodo

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The poor and down trodden will always pay more than their fair share while the upper elite get more and more that is how a socialist system works, keep them dependent of the beloved government so they behave and are good little class slaves.
 

Xare

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The poor and down trodden will always pay more than their fair share while the upper elite get more and more that is how a socialist system works, keep them dependent of the beloved government so they behave and are good little class slaves.
No, that's how a communist system works, not a socialist one.
 

Xris

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I'd just like to point out that most (informed) people don't group SSDI recipients into the "do nothing and burden" category like with unemployment and some other social assistance programs, so you shouldn't feel bad at all about that.

I worked as an SSI/SSDI paralegal at a law firm for a year, and after experiencing first hand what a truly mind-blowingly terribly run organization the Social Security Administration is I would never say an SSDI recipient is a freeloader. It took us about 3-5 years, multiple applications/appeals, and a court hearing with a hopefully sympathetic judge to win SSDI, sometimes even for clients with undeniably legitimate disabilities no one could possibly question like missing limbs. We were the top firm in that half of the state too, so the other firms actually took even longer. Fun fact, SSA doesn't consider stage 4 cancer worthy of collecting money for it unless it's "in a vital organ"....despite the fact that stage 4 means it is metastatic and has spread to all parts of the body, which is almost guaranteed death. I saw about 7 of our clients die of their disabilities while waiting for a hearing because their appeals were denied for not being disabling enough.

True story, I worked with one client in his 50's who had over 20 surgeries, a 10,000 page medical record of at least 5 serious conditions (which I had to read and digitize in its entirety for court preparations......) who was genuinely illiterate to the point where I had to read him everything written down and he signed his name with an X, who while waiting for the hearing fell off his porch and broke his spine/neck.....and the judge STILL denied him and said he was capable of working a month later.

SSI is different, most of our SSI clients were just homeless people looking for free money because there's no medical component required for it, and yes we frequently dropped clients after discovering they were doing hardcore drugs or were dealers, or had been sentenced to prison (part of my job was looking up jail records to see how many of our clients got arrested that month....it happened that often) but it is nearly impossible for someone to get SSDI without a legitimate medical reason for it which really does prevent them from working, along with a crapton of medical documentation showing years/decades worth of pain, so they are not a freeloader. There are lots of legitimate SSI cases as well like mentally handicapped people without physical impairments and children, but it's harder to judge that one due to the very low criteria to get it.

The income limits do indeed basically trap people permanently into the SSDI income level for life. If I remember correctly, it was something like $800 is the maximum they were allowed to make per month in addition to their SSDI from a part time job, and the average SSDI was like $1,100 per month. So essentially none of our clients could ever make more than like $22k a year for the rest of their lives, if they tried they lost all their benefits and had to spend 3-5 years reapplying, and if they couldn't get a part time job they only made like $13k per year for life.
I'd also like to point out that medicare is a hot mess too. Theres about 504848483839 different plans, options, coverages that's almost impossible to navigate even with an agent to help. Then there are enrollment periods, special enrollment periods, enrollment for part D only, enrollment in advantage plans. It's insane to think we are making seniors and the disabled go thru this crap. Yes the coverage is better than nothing, but sometimes it's like were in the twilight zone. Dont get me going on deductibles and the "donut hole". I had to help someone navigate this, and it was a nightmare. I'm not saying universal healthcare is a bad idea, but Medicare is way too complex, if we gave everyone Medicare tomorrow, it might collapse.

Sent from my SM-J337VPP using Tapatalk
 

Lord Frodo

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No, that's how a communist system works, not a socialist one.
There aint no such thing as a pure socialist society that is called utopia where everybody is equal and that dont exist. There will always be someone in charge and someone to do things. The upper will always try to tell the lower this is for your own good sorry we have so much more than you
 

petemage

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Fair share is a dangerous term. Who defines what is fair? It could easily be said that everyone paying the same portion is fair. Could also be said that everyone paying a progressive rate is fair too. I don't disagree with the overall sentiment, but its vaguely worded.
The poor and down trodden will always pay more than their fair share while the upper elite get more and more that is how a socialist system works, keep them dependent of the beloved government so they behave and are good little class slaves.
Yes, "fair share" is highly debatable, there are forces to undermine the system and it's not perfect at all. In a nutshell health insurance rates are 14.6% of your income if your employed somewhere. Half is deducted from your income and the other half your employer has to pay up. If your employer only misses one of those payments, he will have some serious explaining to do or might even straight get into serious trouble over it. If your are unemployed and poor, the goverment will pay up for you. There are about 0.1% of the population that fall through the system and are not insured, which shouldn't happen at all, but it does for various reasons.
 

Lore

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I... I'm actually surprised by the tone in this thread. I thought most UO players, especially Stratics posters, were basement dwelling welfare trolls. Also those wealthy elite pay WAAAAAY more than all the "poor and down trodden" combined to the government. Just because it doesn't show up on taxes, rarely, they still pay.
 

Captn Norrington

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I... I'm actually surprised by the tone in this thread. I thought most UO players, especially Stratics posters, were basement dwelling welfare trolls. Also those wealthy elite pay WAAAAAY more than all the "poor and down trodden" combined to the government. Just because it doesn't show up on taxes, rarely, they still pay.
UO players are actually mostly pretty well-off as a group in real life from what I've seen. Unlike other games which are populated by broke 20 year olds, UO is mostly 40-60 year olds who have already had an entire career, or two, to save money. Due to the game forming during the golden age of the internet, a lot of UO players that were in high school or college way back then became computer programmers and technology type people which pays well also.
 

morPR

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Hey, Captn. Thanks for your kind words. I wonder... I want to work with other disabled people as a caregiver. I can walk and such but my largest issue is my weight. I need to get more active and about ten years ago I was a personal shopper for a friend and took out her trash and also did her catbox. She didn't pay much. I was looking online and it says stuff about working for a relative but there's little information about doing ti for friends I am not related to. Mind PMing me some insight?
 

Captn Norrington

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Hey, Captn. Thanks for your kind words. I wonder... I want to work with other disabled people as a caregiver. I can walk and such but my largest issue is my weight. I need to get more active and about ten years ago I was a personal shopper for a friend and took out her trash and also did her catbox. She didn't pay much. I was looking online and it says stuff about working for a relative but there's little information about doing ti for friends I am not related to. Mind PMing me some insight?
Working for a friend would most likely qualify as just normal work, since many people are employed by companies owned by their friends' families and that sort of thing. External income you are allowed to have while on SSDI is judged by a system called Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). Any income earned from any source counts towards that limit. The current SGA for SSDI recipients in 2020 is listed at $1,260 per month (but it would probably be best to keep it at a bit less than that just in case something goes wrong).

if you're working for someone you know and trust though....there are loopholes to get around that a bit. It only counts as SGA if the money itself is given directly to you, however if your friend/family member you're working for pays your bills in their own name (like having your phone in their name and them paying for it, them buying your groceries for you etc.) that would not count against your SGA since the money technically was never in your possession.

It's been a while since I was a paralegal, so I'm not completely up to date on what exceptions there may be for working as a caretaker for friends/relatives, but generally as long as you make less than that SGA limit you should be fine. If you have more specific/personal questions I'm happy to PM, but figured I could post this publicly in case someone else finds it helpful too.
 

Cork

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I had to take a 24% pay cut at my job but it still pays way more than I'd get on unemployment. I definitely prefer to work if I can.
 

GarthGrey

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UO players are actually mostly pretty well-off as a group in real life from what I've seen. Unlike other games which are populated by broke 20 year olds, UO is mostly 40-60 year olds who have already had an entire career, or two, to save money. Due to the game forming during the golden age of the internet, a lot of UO players that were in high school or college way back then became computer programmers and technology type people which pays well also.
There is a large population of UO players that are in fact disabled, I"m not one of them, but let's not pretend that most UO players are lottery winners.
 
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