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These perverse incentives and feedbacks have created a system in which firefighters claim a heart murmur (a very common and notably benign condition--I have one) as a work-relayed "disability" which then allows their already outsized pensions to flow to them tax-free.

As with finance and politics, the devolution of honesty, truth and integrity has been shunted from public discourse; it would be "rude," insensitive" or "judgmental" to simply state that the firefighters claiming a heart murmur as a work-related injury are misrepresenting the truth. No one dares demand the truth lest their own claim to entitlement be rejected out of spite by those who have sold their personal integrity for State swag.

With integrity rendered not just worthless but a liability and dependency ascendant, then citizens are effectively encouraged by these State dependency incentives to file "stress claims" and "crazy money" (SSI, disability paid out of the Social Security system) and dozens of other frauds.

Indeed, "disability" is now a major drain on the economy at large, though the reality is the vast majority of people claiming disability could still be productive in some fashion. Yes, a small percentage of the populace is truly incapable of being productive--the quadriplegic, the severely psychotic, etc. But there are many "jobs" which even the severely disabled could perform; the simple but highly valuable service of providing "eyes on the street" could be performed by many currently classified as disabled/unable to work.

The key problem with State-encouraged dependency is the internal damage done to what I term internally derived security, the confidence of those who have learned to trust their own intuition/judgment, their own ability to learn and adapt and their own inner/spiritual resilience. Come what may, these people have confidence in themselves and their beliefs. They have the experience to back up their confidence--experience built on mistakes, errors and failures.

In the pillowy soft embrace of a perniciously destructive dependence on the State, the concept of radical self-reliance sounds harsh and "judgmental," as if dependency has created such a fragility of spirit and intellect that we cannot even bear to hear that we are now crippled by dependency. As with all derealizations and illusions, silence does not make the reality go away; a forbidden topic merely worms deeper into the soul and wreaks ever-greater damage to those seeking to hide it.

It is an irony of human nature that dependency offers the illusion of freedom--freedom from want and freedom of purpose. Yet the exact opposite is true: for in a Devil's Pact, the acceptance of dependency requires the sacrifice of real security--that you can take care of yourself, think for yourself and learn/adapt/pick yourself up on your own.

Ironically, self-reliance is freedom and dependence is a pernicious form of servitude.

Dependency also demands the sacrifice of self-worth and independence. Fearful of his/her own weakness (confirmed by the dependency) and thus fearful of losing the zero-sum game of divvying up the State's tax revenue, the dependent harbors resentment against everyone: other competitors drawing swag from the State, the State for being miserly, critics who question the lies, obfuscation and fraud at the heart of the system and even those who are paying the taxes which fund the entitlements.

The entitlement mindset is equally destructive, feeding multiple resentments and insecurities; the mind of the entitled dependent is filled with justifications, rationalizations, explanations and excuses for why they "deserve" not just the "right" to the State's largesse but the further "right" to their own hostility and resentments.

The resentful dependent (on the State or any other entity) is not a fulfilled person-- ontologically, dependence breeds resentment and crumbles inner strengths and thus it is incapable of fostering fulfillment or happiness.