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Joined 10 months ago
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Cake day: August 26th, 2023

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  • Disabled Canadian here. Spinal cord injury. I think assisted death is necessary in any society and I am glad we have it. That’s said… That some are choosing death over starvation or homelessness due to disability is not ok. If we give the option for assisted death we also need the support structure to avoid such unfortunately necessary choices for some. I have 3 young kids. I’m fully disabled now at almost 50. I went from a salary when working of almost 100,000/year to $12, 440.61 on disability. Even if I could find work that would make exceptions for my disability I could only earn $6000/year before I would lose my disability altogether and have to work full-time. $6000. Try live for a year on that, but that’s what the feds say justifies full time employment for someone like me. $12,000/ year is no walk in the park but half that would be devastating.

    If my major purchases (home etc)were not paid off we would be homeless for certain. A single grocery bill for us for two weeks is well over $300 and we grow all our own vegetables, chickens and eggs out of necessity. If we had a mortgage and car payment we would be seriously considering one less mouth. We are lucky because we live rurally and have some stability in owning our home otherwise MAID would be a consideration. Not because I don’t want to live but because I couldn’t afford to.






  • Here’s a hot take. Do what you want when you are young. Find a way. I spent my 20’s moving around, having shitty but fun jobs. I travelled. Saw all kinds of places and met all sorts of people. It wasn’t easy and sometimes it wasn’t fun. I found myself homeless even several times. I still wouldn’t change any of it. I found a wonderful partner and we moved together for a while before settling and having kids.

    In my early 40s I was diagnosed with a really rare cancer that paralyzed me from the chest down for a year prior to surgery and left lasting disabilities following. Now in my 50’s with declining health I am so glad I lived. It means I don’t have a lot of things others have but I’ve never cared much for the Jones’ anyway. If Cancer taught me anything it’s fuck society and their expectations. Do you. Find a way. Be happy.







  • I signed a DNR when I was diagnosed with cancer. I worked as a Paramedic for a long time. I just choose personally to not go through the huge suffering if things should go bad. I had the surgery but refused the rest knowing problems for someone young having major poisons pumped into their body. I was fortunate and didn’t have to use the DNR and surgery seems to have worked well for the time being, aside from some disability.

    My family was understanding but I have always been open about my beliefs and desires about major illness and DNR with them. I’d suggest a frank conversation with those you love. Expect that someone won’t understand but also know your life is yours and not anyone else’s.



  • Where we live it will help a lot. It’s an economically depressed area and has some of the highest poverty rates in the country. Yet the local university has brought so many international students that housing supply dried up prior to COVID. Housing prices have skyrocketed. Food banks are stretched beyond their capabilities. Employment opportunities are at an all time low with a minimum of quadruple the volume of applicants for the few mostly part time positions there are. The local cinema is being used as a classroom there are so many students and no place to instruct them at the university because it is well over capacity on teaching spaces as well as housing. Yet the university keeps increasing the volume of students every single year by the thousands.

    This means the local population which already has difficulty for many reasons is seeing homelessness rise dramatically along with food insecurity, housing prices rising at extreme rates, joblessness at extreme levels even for a historically depressed area. Not to mention a huge increase in crime.

    For smaller population centers and those with schools acting as diploma mills, which is happening in many areas here, it will slow down the decline somewhat. It’s not an end all situation. Much more still has to be done to even try right the ship.