Civilisation. Are we civilised? Or have we merely pressed our ever-advancing technology into the service of our own nascent barbarism?
We have cities, hence we can use the word civilisation. We have marvelous roads, water systems, sanitary sewers and sanitary landfills. I haven’t seen a rat in my own dwelling in 41 years. Quite a testimonial.
We keep the killing on the down low. Nobody has trouble finding war abhorrent, especially our warriors. But killing has become the solution to dealing with pain. And the rationalisations for abortion and euthanasia are quite elaborate and believable to the mind that is eager to accept them.
Nobody says, “Is this the day we help Grandma cross the Rainbow Bridge?” At least not yet.
Dispatches From Dystopia 
We may not put in those words, though I was the one who had to follow her instructions and end my mother’s life sustaining medical treatments when it became clear that to continue them would only keep her in pain longer. I sat with her all alone, held her hand and talked to her as I always did while she passed. She slipped in and out of lucidity making it all that much more difficult to sit with her as the days slipped by until she passed. We did the same for our sweet Ladybug, our beloved dog, when it became clear that her pain was so horrible that it was cruel to continue her life. I hope when my time comes, my husband will do the same for me. Sit by my side, holding my hand, comforting me as He always does and be there when it’s time for me to let go. Help me do it.
Death is a natural part of life. If anything, we have gone too far in making life sustain which by all natural causes should not. I hold a very unpopular opinion in this realm. I’m very aware. In days past, older people died when their time came, not when medical science and their fear of death said it was time to go. Same of children and many other things. Death is the natural order of life. All things die. To be afraid of it, to not talk about it, to keep it a hidden thing and protect life at all cost is not a benefit to any of us. We are in fact playing God when we do so.
True. I was there when the doctors took my brother off life support. There is a distinction between allowing a natural death to take place and giving a terminally ill patient a life ending drug, a de facto poison.
We become used to the killing. A severely depressed teenager was recently euthanized in The Netherlands. Euthanasia is the order of the day in The Netherlands and Belgium. Right now it is “voluntary”. In a world where global healthcare budgets could be implemented, how long before we drop that critical adjective?
I worked in mental health facilities for 15 years. The last 7 of which were in a hospital diversioin program. All of our clients met 5150 criteria (legal hold- danger to self or others) for one reason or another. As a staff, we often talked about our personal feelings about suicide, assisted suicide and the likes. At the end of the day, it was our job to save the lives of our suicidal clients. My sister has paranoid schizophrenia and attempted suicide more than 7 times before she was 35. Those I know who’ve wanted to die so desperately have reasons and suffering more than many could possibly understand. Is mental and emotional pain and less valid than physical pain and suffering? I’m not saying that anyone who wishes to die should just be helped carte blanche. It’s something to consider. None of us asked for life. If living hurts so much that one consistently wishes not to, is it such a horrible thing to allow them to go with dignity? With that said, I sat in a therapists office week after week for almost a year when I was 19 finding a will to live. Am I grateful I did? Absolutely. Is it always easy to deal with the pain of my past and those things which make it so tempting to let go? No. Life and death is a complex issue far beyond a simple opinion and if one is honest, there should be some mixed feelings and inconsistencies.
The propangandist’s (public relations professional) job is to have the will of someone else think it is our choice, whether that propagandist is a Bernays or a Göbbels.
In theory, I agree. This does not hold in all cases. In truth, I don’t believe at all in Free Will. I think it’s the greatest fallacy of all. A topic for another day… 😉 Apparently, I enjoy reading your thoughts and views on the world. We may differ at points, but I will never turn down an opportunity to listen to a well stated view or attitude which I may learn from or gain some understanding into the other side. 🙂
Thank you so much.