Saturday, February 28, 2015

Preparing us for death panels?


80151.

Preparing us for death panels?


Ya, go ahead and scoff.  But why else would Ezekiel Emanuel write such a tome?  He was one of the architects of Obamacare, so his thinking revealed in this article reflects the thinking of the authors of Obamacare.  He lists ways that he won’t try to prolong his life starting at age 65.  I’m sure the goal is to reduce the cost to Obamacare.  This is one more reason to abolish Obamacare.

Some quotes from the article:

Living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic.

At 75 and beyond, I will need a good reason to even visit the doctor and take any medical test or treatment, no matter how routine and painless. And that good reason is not “It will prolong your life.” I will stop getting any regular preventive tests, screenings, or interventions. I will accept only palliative—not curative—treatments if I am suffering pain or other disability.

What I am trying to do is delineate my views for a good life and make my friends and others think about how they want to live as they grow older. I want them to think of an alternative to succumbing to that slow constriction of activities and aspirations imperceptibly imposed by aging. Are we to embrace the “American immortal” or my “75 and no more” view?

I also think my view conjures up spiritual and existential reasons for people to scorn and reject it. Many of us have suppressed, actively or passively, thinking about God, heaven and hell, and whether we return to the worms. We are agnostics or atheists, or just don’t think about whether there is a God and why she should care at all about mere mortals. We also avoid constantly thinking about the purpose of our lives and the mark we will leave. Is making money, chasing the dream, all worth it? Indeed, most of us have found a way to live our lives comfortably without acknowledging, much less answering, these big questions on a regular basis. We have gotten into a productive routine that helps us ignore them. And I don’t purport to have the answers.

But 75 defines a clear point in time: for me, 2032. It removes the fuzziness of trying to live as long as possible. Its specificity forces us to think about the end of our lives and engage with the deepest existential questions and ponder what we want to leave our children and grandchildren, our community, our fellow Americans, the world. The deadline also forces each of us to ask whether our consumption is worth our contribution.

1 comment:

  1. Note: this post was in response to a response I got to post number 80151. The responder had questioned why someone who was close to God was afraid of meeting God.
    80151.1.1.
    Meeting God.

    It seems to me your question is a contradiction. How can Christians be close to God without meeting him?

    You can meet God also:

    http://www.intouch.org/learn/meet-god

    Note: The post continued with BaalTyranny.blogspot.com CANON button Salvation Verses

    ReplyDelete