As human beings, we are not machines. Our bodies are designed to wear down over time. Aging is not a flaw—it's part of life’s design. Yet, we live in a world that punishes people for aging.
As we grow older, the human body naturally begins to slow down. It’s biological. The immune system weakens. Bones and joints begin to ache. Arthritis creeps in. Memory starts to fade—some are hit with Alzheimer's. The heart doesn’t work as strong. Diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases become daily battles. This isn't laziness. It’s reality. And no matter how much someone may want to keep working, there comes a point where the body just can’t.
But instead of support, what do our elders get? Cuts to their medical care. Budget slashes that put their survival in danger. Prescriptions cost more. Appointments are harder to access. Caregivers are underpaid. Nursing homes are underfunded. And those who want to age with dignity at home? They’re left stranded.
On top of that, we’ve got tariffs—silent taxes on goods. Food prices skyrocket. Everyday essentials become luxury items. Eggs, bread, fruit, medicine, utilities—they all cost more. Seniors living on fixed incomes are being priced out of survival. Many can’t afford to eat a full meal every day. They skip their medicine because it’s either that or starve.
So let’s be real: we have elderly citizens—our grandparents, our parents, our veterans, our pioneers—who gave their working years to society. Now, they’re abandoned in a system that demands labor until death, yet denies them the dignity of rest.
This isn’t just unfair. It’s inhumane. A society is judged by how it treats its weakest, its sick, its elderly. And right now? The system is failing them.
We live in a world that glorifies productivity—but forgets the humanity of those who can’t produce in the way society demands.
There are disabled people—young and old—whose bodies or minds do not allow them to work traditional jobs. Some were born with disabilities. Others developed them after injuries, illness, or as a natural part of aging. This isn’t about effort or ambition. This is about biology, reality, and life.
Some cannot stand for long periods. Others cannot see, cannot hear, cannot walk, or cannot process information in a way that matches the “workforce standard.” Many live with pain that the average person can’t even imagine. Some fight through seizures, muscle weakness, cognitive decline, or mental health disorders that never take a day off. This isn’t laziness. This is survival.
And what are we doing to help them survive?
We’re cutting medical support.
We’re stripping away the very healthcare systems meant to support the disabled community—systems that already weren’t enough. Medications get more expensive. Wait times get longer. Therapies get canceled. Equipment like wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, hearing aids, or accessible transportation? Out of reach. These are not luxuries. They are necessities for basic survival.
Then on top of that, we slap tariffs on goods—causing food, supplies, and household items to skyrocket in price. That means disabled people, many of whom rely on fixed incomes or disability benefits, are being priced out of survival. Literally. A rising cost of living with no ability to earn more income? That’s not just unfair. That’s economic suffocation.
Imagine being told you must survive on less…while everything costs more. Imagine needing a caregiver but being denied one because the government “can’t afford it.” Imagine choosing between your medication and your next meal.
This is the crisis disabled people live every single day. They’re not being supported—they’re being squeezed, ignored, and pushed to the margins of society.
This isn’t just broken policy. This is moral failure. A society that punishes people for being disabled is a society that has lost its soul.
We have a working class—lower-income men and women—who have busted their grills for decades in some of the hardest, most dangerous, most physically demanding jobs on earth.
They clean our streets. They pick our food. They pour our concrete. They lift, build, dig, deliver, cook, and sweat through long shifts for low wages. They sacrifice their health, their backs, their knees, their lungs—just to keep the lights on and the system running.
And what happens when their bodies finally break down?
What happens when the years of wear and tear catch up, when arthritis kicks in, when their spine can’t take another shift, when they can’t breathe without a machine, when their hands are too damaged to grip, and their heart is too weak to keep going?
They can’t retire. Not because they don’t want to—but because they can’t afford to.
Social Security? Slashed. Retirement support? Shrinking. Healthcare? Gutted.
These people gave their best years to the workforce, but now the system turns its back. The money they were promised for retirement is disappearing. Medical care is harder to access. Premiums go up, coverage goes down. The wait lists get longer, and the treatments become unaffordable.
And then there’s tariffs—quiet killers that raise the price of everything: food, gas, clothes, medicine, diapers, milk. Groceries become unaffordable. People are literally working-class poor, living paycheck to paycheck, and still starving. These are not the unemployed. These are the working poor—people who gave everything and still go to bed hungry.
Imagine working 40, 50 years, only to end up eating one meal a day, skipping medicine, and wondering how to survive next month.
This is what happens when a country stops valuing labor and starts prioritizing profit over people.
This is not an accident. This is design. The system is rigged to drain the worker dry—then toss them aside once they can no longer produce. No healthcare. No retirement. No security. Just pain, bills, and hunger.
And to the powerful who pretend not to see it—your silence is violence. Because the blood, sweat, and tears of the working class built this nation. And they deserve more than to be thrown into poverty in their old age.
Tariffs are like taxes added to stuff we buy from other countries.
So when the U.S. buys products—like food, clothes, electronics, cars—from another country, the government charges a fee (a tariff) on those imports. That fee gets passed down to us—the everyday people—when we go to the store.
Think of it like this:
Imagine your favorite cereal used to cost $4. Now a tariff is added on that cereal because it’s made or packed overseas. That new tax might be $1. Guess what? That cereal is now $5.
Now apply that same idea to bread, milk, rice, beans, fruits, eggs, oil, baby formula, medicine—all of it. Prices go up. Not because of the farmers or workers, but because the government decided to add a tariff. And they tell us it’s to "protect American jobs," but guess who really pays for it? We do.
For wealthy people, a few extra dollars doesn’t matter.
But for the working class, the elderly, the disabled, and low-income families—tariffs can mean going days without eating, skipping medicine, or not being able to afford basic needs.
So when you hear “tariffs,” think:
More taxes. Higher prices. Less food on the table.
And if you’re already struggling, tariffs hit you the hardest. They’re an invisible weight that make survival harder. It’s like inflation—but by choice.
It’s time we ask: Why are we punishing the poor and struggling—just to play political games at the top?
Signed:
Santiago D.C. Maria
#TariffTruth
#WorkingClassStruggle
#StarvingInSilence
#HiddenTax
#EconomicInjustice
#PovertyByPolicy
#FightForThePoor
#CostOfSurvival
#SystemIsRigged
#SpeakForTheVoiceless
Comments
Post a Comment