I read on the Internet that most people think favorably of union employees. I remember the song that urged clothes buyers in the 1970s to “look for the union label” with pride.

Trust me: members of unions aren’t getting rich. Most of us aren’t lazy *sses or rude to patrons. I write about this because if you’re considering finding a job often you will have to choose it for love or money. Not all careers pay well. Yet you can be happy earning less and doing good.

That’s why I’ve decided to talk about how it’s not what you have in terms of the things you can buy that counts–it’s whether you’re happy and doing things that give you joy and satisfaction.

I’ve taken a hard-line stance against traditional day programs here and elsewhere. I’ve made the case for doing volunteer work. I advocate using the services of an IPRT. I recommend cognitive remediation and social skills training as the first “treatment” for individuals with schizophrenia who haven’t held a job before and want to work at a job.

Thus in the coming blog entries I’ll talk about things I wrote in my book Flourish: How to Thrive Living with a Mental Illness.

I’ll end here for now with my contention that the U.S. government isn’t doing anything for ordinary Americans who struggle to survive on their salaries “paycheck-to-paycheck” as the living goes. I’ll stop now with this thought: the term “working poor” is not an oxymoron; it’s a true account of the lives of a lot of people living in America.

That said I think it’s always preferable to hold some kind of job, either full-time, or part-time in addition to collecting SSI or SSDI.

In this regard the government isn’t entirely heartless:

President Obama (way to go!) signed into law the ABLE Act (Achieving A Better Life Experience.)

Those of us who were eligible for SSI before the cut-off age of 26 can have set up a tax-free savings account, up to $100K, that can be funded with $14K/per year. The money can be used for healthcare, living expenses, job training, and education, among other things.

No kidding. This is now possible.

See the AutismSpeaks website for detailed information on setting up an ABLE account.