8mm
Posted on 11/08/2007 7:56:46 PM PST by Stoat
And you are concerned that these are Dignitas representatives wanting to sign you up as a new client? :-)
I think that if you were to put up a sign on your front door that says something like "I am NOT a EuroSocialist Weenie" it will scare them away because they will know that you are full of Life :-)
Sick. Moral Absolutes Ping!
The country was incredibly beautiful, but the vibe was dark dangerous and foreboding. I am glad that we got out of there without harm to ourselves or another.
While I agree on the onerous and herd-like nature of collectivists, I do not propose going to rural Mexico with the intention of really doing oneself in, just the acceptance of “passing away”, howsoever it happens, in spiritual peace and in a mood of acceptance, quietude and some degree of friendship.
Many people in rural Mexico live to a ripe old age. And I might add, the water is probably better than in the cities, even if it is still advisable to boil it or drink bottled, and to be careful in washing your fresh fruits and vegetables. You can have painful dysentery a long time before it kills you, otherwise.
Unfortunately, when old or ill and infirm, it is far too easy to fall prey to the fears of the young and healthy who either incorrectly assume that your life is agony, and want to “do you a favor by putting you out of your misery”, or even worse, to do everything they can to prevent you from dying, because they see their own death in yours, and are terrified. That is, reveling in their own self-pity, so trying to unnaturally extend your life.
In between the two is locking you away in a hideous cell with others who are also old and infirm, so they don’t have to look at you. Which is less like Limbo, and more like Purgatory. I don’t advise visiting such places, abattoirs of the spirit, where people are put so that their minds and bodies may rot away without their families having to watch. They are grotesque.
The rural Mexico option has to be long and carefully planned, not just a spur of the minute decision. One’s children and other relatives need to understand and agree with the decision, enough at least to stay out of the way. And you must travel when you are still strong enough to travel, not sapped of strength and will.
You also cannot assume that death will cooperate, either, as it seldom does. You might die your first night or live for years. So you have to assume that you are going to rural Mexico to live, not just to die.
Thanks for the kind words.
I do think however that this guy is the tip of a very scary iceberg.
Talk about your slippery slopes....
Cheers,
knewshound
Business should be good since they have National health care.
Freepmail wagglebee or little jeremiah to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
Explain this part to me. Every patient in the USA already ---properly---- has a right to refuse any surgery, mediction, therapy, or any other intervention to extend life "beyond where it should naturally end."
If you specify that you don't want a respirator, a kidney dialysis, a coronary operation, chemo or radiation or even O2, they can't force it on you, and if they do they can be prosecuted for assault.
You also have a right to suspend ALL medical treatment and be given simple palliative care --- comfort care ---until your life comes to its natural end.
All that in mind, why would a person have to go to Mexico? OK, I can see some advantages ---- much cheaper to get a cook, laundress and personal attendant there --- but I wouldn't think it's necessary to go there to evade aggressive treatment.
You're exactly right.
And here's another thing. Some 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year, without manipulatively dragging our major medical, legal, and political structures into it for "assistance" or "permission."
It's a wicked and/or a pathetic thing to commit suicide "freelance" --- though only God can judge in the case of the clinically depressed or otherwise impaired. But that doesn't even compare to the rotten evil of "legal" or "assisted" suicide where you corrupt your own friends and family, and the major institutions of society, as your accomplices.
Doctors, nurses, and hospice workers should not be pulled into the picture as accessories to the deed, because they are, and should be, unalterably committed to the patient's health: and nobody is healthier dead. Lawyers, judges, and politicians should not be implicated in suicide because they're supposed to be dedicated to our rights and liberties, and death effectively snuffs ALL rights and all liberties.
I have never quite understood why those would-be suicides who say their #1 value is personal autonomy, don't just do it --- like those other 30,000 self-respectng autonomous suicides* --- and leave the rest of us out of it.
* (Hoping the irony here is apparent.)
The devil is in the details. In this case, many “treatments” and drugs are physically and especially mentally debilitating. They are increased gradually, making resistance more and more difficult. The end result is that great numbers of people who are in “care” lose the ability to make choices the healthy take for granted.
It is impressively stealthy, and often done with the, again gradual, cooperation of caring relatives. At a particular point, recommending to them that they obtain power of attorney to make decisions for their elders.
To see it in practice, a visit to such a care facility is in order. To see rows of wheelchair bound mostly women, lined up in corridors to stare at blank walls in a combined natural and drug induced stupor. Very few of them still have the ability to choose much of anything for themselves.
Now, were you to ask those people a long time before what they would like to do in those circumstances, few would want to be where there are. And yet they all ended up there.
So there is a process to get them there. It often begins with their lives becoming problematic for their children, usually with some degree of infirmity.
And this, early in the game, might be the time to consider moving to Mexico. So any prior preparations should have been made before. Such a trip can be stressful to some extent, along with the disposition of property before you go, so it cannot be put off until the last minute.
But the end result is if a person waits beyond this point, it may be too late for them. They will not only have to have the strength left to make the trip, but they will also have to not be gradually worn down by drugs and natural weaknesses.
The Senate cloakroom would be my first choice. I’m sure a Serta “Perfect Sleeper” would fit in one corner.
My pleasure even though it totally disgusts me that evil like this exists in the civilized world.
Do they sell gift certificates?
Explain this part to me. Every patient in the USA already ---properly---- has a right to refuse any surgery, mediction, therapy, or any other intervention to extend life "beyond where it should naturally end."
Considering that this article refers to an organization that exists in Switzerland, I am hesitant to draw many comparisons to our laws and rights that we enjoy here in the USA. That being said, the organization appears to be fully in compliance with Swiss law, and I would imagine that it appeals to those people who wish to have a quick and Government-approved end, avoiding months or more of drawn-out pain and suffering.
And here's another thing. Some 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year, without manipulatively dragging our major medical, legal, and political structures into it for "assistance" or "permission."
Committing a fast suicide requires a particular mental focus which extremely sick people may not have. It can be, and usually is, violent, painful, lonely and is often botched.
This "service" provides the imprimatur of Government Approval as well as the flimsy facade of medical oversight, and the promise of a fast and relatively painless end. I can understand the appeal that it has to some people, even though I disagree with it.
I find it quite telling that this sort of thing tends to spring up first in Socialist countries, whose 'true believers' constantly rail against The United States and Capitalism in general, describing it as a system that only cares about profit and money.
If that were truly the case, we would have had drive-in death parlors long ago, as well as mobile death wagons that look much like pizza delivery trucks. It would be a huge business with prominent stocks sold on the New York Stock Exchange. The fact is, Capitalism encourages true kindness and compassion and celebrates Life far more so than Socialism which wears "humanity" on it's sleeve but in reality is disgusted by it..
Funny :-) However, I don't think that this would be in keeping with the Socialist model. I have no doubt that the goal of this organization is for it to be directly incorporated into the mainstream of Swiss Government, and for tax monies to be automatically extracted for it's funding and implementation.
A Gift Certificate implies that it is a 'special' or "optional" or "privileged" thing, whereas if it's a tax-supported Government entity it becomes merely another Government Service that's called upon when needed, such as the police of fire services.
I had meant this in reference to Popocatapetl's message at #9 about going to Mexico in a terminal situation to avoid burdensome treatments. I was not writing specifically of Switzerland --- though it's hard for me to imagine that Switzerland would not similarly recognize the patient's right to refuse burdensome, futile treatments.
I am not in the least an advocate of strictly autonomous, do-it-yourself suicide; I was just suggesting that it's less harmful than manipulating the assistance of the whole medico-legal complex and thereby rapidly accelerating the final collapse of medical and legal ethics.
There are all kinds of internet "resources" for suicide methods one can self-administer which are suppose to be swift, painless, and certain. I will not go into further detail because I do not care to promote them in any way.
Larger point: there is no reason for any terminally ill person in the 21st century to die in pain. Even 25 years ago Dr. Jose Espinosa, a gerontologist from Spain, was saying that he had never encountered "intractable" pain in many decades of ministering to terminal patients --- although, as he said, he had encountered "intractable doctors and nurses."
And medication to address pain and discomfort and even depression is a whole lot better now than it was even 25 years ago. That's what people should be demanding: excellent, state-of-the-art palliative care. And not a legally-legitimated lethal overdose, which will start off being an "option," progress to being a "right," and quickly morph into a "duty" which will be imposed on the frail, the politically disfavored and the disabled without mercy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.