It’s a very scary time to be old, disabled, or needing care

[The_Reginator]

This is alarming:
firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2009/11/20/the-human-cost-of-pushing-the-burden-meme/
I’ve copied it here (without peoples comments):

The Human Cost of Pushing the “Burden” Meme
Friday, November 20, 2009, 3:26 PM
Wesley J. Smith

We have become a culture that tells the elderly, people with disabilities, and others who need care and support that they are “burdens.” Indeed, in my recent debate in Edinburgh with Dr. Libby Wilson, my opponent explicitly supported legalizing assisted suicide so that the ill and disabled could give their families the “gift” of not being a burden.

This is why I think that the assisted suicide/euthanasia agenda is a culture-changing issue that will–if it succeeds–radically and adversely transform the way we interrelate as members of society and as family members. And when you read about murder/suicides motivated by the “burden” fear, it really raises the alarm.
From the story:

*An elderly husband killed his poorly wife then committed suicide because he feared she would outlive him and become a ‘burden’ on their family. When Eileen Martin, 76, developed dementia, her husband of more than 50 years, Kenneth, cared for her at their home. But when he developed cancer he vowed not to leave his sick wife behind for the family to care for. Kenneth Martin and his wife Eileen. He hanged himself after killing her He warned his children: ‘I won’t leave you with the burden of your mother. When it’s my time to go, it’ll be her time to go.’*

The message that it is worse to be a burden than dead is being broadcast and received–and stories like this tragedy, I believe, are a direct consequence. It’s a very scary time to be old, disabled, or needing care.

I find that Wesley J. Smith’s blog in First Things called “Secondhand Smoke” is filled with news and views that are of concern with Catholic values. Mr. Smith is a biophysicist. I have not been able to ascertain his religious affiliation, if any.

 

[Ridgerunner]

One has to wonder, then, about the provision in the healthcare bill regarding the giving of “advice on choices” and the encouragement of advance directives.

We have seen the results of regarding humans as commodities before, in the 20th century. There really is a thread in recent developments to separate the “useful” from the “useless” when it comes to government programs. Some of us provide tax revenues to the government; money it can spend. Some of us are a drain on those revenues, and absorb money the government could use for other things.

I’m not one of those who sees the U.S. turning immediately into a Hitlerite or Stalinist state. But there is a mindset, not peculiar to particular political or economic systems, that made the 20th a nightmarish century; a mindset so utilitarian that it sees people as broad groups that are either useful to the purposes of the whole, or useless or even detrimental to it. Extreme capitalists are not an exception to this; sometimes seeing a broad swath of society as “consumers”, and nothing more, not hesitating to use personal moral corruption as an inducement to buy products. But the extreme left seems bolder still in the depersonalization of human beings.

 

[royal_archer]

One has to wonder, then, about the provision in the healthcare bill regarding the giving of “advice on choices” and the encouragement of advance directives.

We have seen the results of regarding humans as commodities before, in the 20th century. There really is a thread in recent developments to separate the “useful” from the “useless” when it comes to government programs. Some of us provide tax revenues to the government; money it can spend. Some of us are a drain on those revenues, and absorb money the government could use for other things.

I’m not one of those who sees the U.S. turning immediately into a Hitlerite or Stalinist state. But there is a mindset, not peculiar to particular political or economic systems, that made the 20th a nightmarish century; a mindset so utilitarian that it sees people as broad groups that are either useful to the purposes of the whole, or useless or even detrimental to it. Extreme capitalists are not an exception to this; sometimes seeing a broad swath of society as “consumers”, and nothing more, not hesitating to use personal moral corruption as an inducement to buy products. But the extreme left seems bolder still in the depersonalization of human beings.

With our electoral process the criteria of usefull changes. Some politicians representing the party in control, view the dependent class as more usefull to cementing their power. To these politicians it is not the workers who can produce more products who wre valued, instead it is the individuals who can provide more votes and as a result elevate their power.

This is why don’t see euthanasia of the elderly as being a major threat accross the board. politicians are dependent on the votes of those depenent individuals. Instead I would be more worried about policies that downgrade the life value of people who are likely to vote against the party in power. For instance, plans to deny insurance to gun owners who are more likely to vote against those in currently in power.