Historically, we didn't have the resources to "carry" a lot of disabled people. You had to pull your own weight in some way.

Because I'm disabled and the internet is a thing, I'm very aware of the existence of people on disability, on multiple meds and not doing much with their lives. Historically, we simply didn't have the resources to support such people.

I'm thinking of those folks -- not simply people living with pain and limitations, but people who historically would have simply died because if it was going to kill you to keep on keeping on, then you were going to die because disability payments, etc, simply did not exist like they do today.