For those not familiar with the term, eugenics is a way to improve the human population by eliminating the weak and propagating the strong. Back then when Hitler was in power there were euthanasia centers where individuals with incurable disease as well as mental illness were given a mercy death. For various reasons I am not a supporter of Hitler, however imagine if these centers were to exist today. Many of us could check in to these places to request to be put to sleep. That would be wonderful. Better for us and for the world if we cease to exist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_T4
24 comments
Interesting idea. I’d agree with it for the most part, if such centers existed today, but here in the US that’s simply above our ‘values’, rather, the moral standard is too high and snooty for such a thing to occur…
I wonder if germany in its entirity is as anti-suicide as america is…
The legalization of assisted suicide puts pressure on elderly people, on the terminally or chronically ill, on disabled persons to just end their life now and not be a burden for their family and friends anymore. That’s why it’s prohibited in most civilized countries. I’m not even talking about suicidal people who are going through a difficult time in their lives and instead of taking professional help just decide to end it once and for all.
No it doesn’t. It gives people who desperately need a chance to die with dignity.
These days there is too much legislation that is based on religion, defending the sanctity of human life. These breeders think that life is precious when what it brings to the individual is suffering. It is a huge gamble whenever a married couple decides to have a baby. The risks are physical and mental defects and more likely they are not able to provide the child with a proper environment to grow up. Think about the extreme competition the kid will have to face in school and in the world. Then it’s just a matter of time before society is done using him and dump him in a home to die.
I totally agree that a restriction on who is allowed to reproduce and who isn’t would solve most of the problems of our modern society. Just making that distinction though is close to impossible. Also we’re living in a democracy, which means any measures that offend a significant amount of the population will never be passed even if they are beneficial for society as a whole.
Either way, most non-theists believe in the sanctity of life as well, otherwise we’d be living in anarchy. Don’t blame religion for these problems.
As the world population increases and grows out of proportion, combined with social problems such as unemployment, poverty, and crime, drastic solutions will have to be drawn up and implemented. I’m not talking about what we see in the movie “The Purge” – rather they will try and emulate what they see in model countries such as Switzerland that have liberal policies toward assisted voluntary death. Initially it is going to be difficult to convince the public but I think we are going in the right direction.
While religion is not the ultimate source of these problems you have to understand it plays a huge part.
You, perhaps, have no idea how it looked like. There wasn’t any free choice. People from psychiatric hospitals were made to go to a room and then they set it ablaze or pushed the button with lethal gas. Oh, that’s pretty horrible. How can I know? It’s simple, I live in country invaded by Hitler. And he did it to my people. I am sure that if it was to happen nowadays, it’d be similar. Instead of curing us they’d make us use this option. No choice, no free will. Easy way to save money…
Sadly mass genocide is still happening but western MSM isn’t interested in reporting it.
That is terrible. I am sorry for the atrocities that Hitler did to your people. I believe in self-determination – an individual should have the right to live as much as he has the right to die. And for those who are unable to make that choice, he deserves medical care to have a natural death.
This thread makes me think of the movie “Soylent Green” where the future has suicide centers just like we’re talking about, so people can die with dignity, painlessly and tranquilly. I don’t know what year that’s supposed to be set in, but my guess is it’ll take at least another 100 years before humans allow it. And not because we’ll be wiser or anything like that. We’ll just be so desperate from overpopulation and all the horrors it will bring: crime, disease, misery and just plain inconvenience.
Jack Kevorkian tried to help terminally ill, diseased patients by giving them the means to end their lives peacefully and comfortably. What did the US government do? Locked up old Jackie boy for 10 years and they only let him out (wait for the punchline…) because he was dying. Gotta love this fucking world. It makes me want do off myself the old fashioned way: painfully and violently. Evidently that’s the only human right we have left.
I’ve posted about institutionalized assisted suicide before, myself. In my case, I made the point that if *theoretically* it was carried out in the ideal manner in which people were able to choose to die (and not have it forced upon them like Hitler obviously did), the statistics of how many and from what groups would become unassailable evidence of the injustices and ills of our societies. That being said, I doubt highly that this could be ethically carried out.
I expect *at best* it would turn out to be mostly like what ClaireDeLune described and partly what LittleBead described. I also personally don’t believe in letting effectively bankrupt societal “morals” off the hook. If society believes so strongly people should live, then society should be willing to ensure that every person has every fucking opportunity to lead a life worth living. As things are now, most of us simply don’t.
Regarding the parenting thing: I think a more ethical and easy way would be to require ALL expecting parents (yes ALL of them) to take courses that lay out the facts on things like nutrition (!!!), emotional needs of growing children, parental stress management, tips for handling common parenting problems, lists/resources of child-care and early-education programs, community and cultural programs, etc., etc., etc. Obviously services that exist to support parents should be expanded/supplemented as well. I can think of a lot of BS corporate welfare that would be better spent maximizing the number of physically and emotionally healthy citizens who can go on to lead happy, productive lives.
So you’re saying we deal with overpopulation by eliminating who we deem lesser human beings? The number of people in Switzerland who make use of assisted suicide is so small compared to the whole population that it really has no influence on overpopulation. You’d have to force it to have a noticeable impact.
Also what exactly are you blaming religion for? That people believe in he sanctity for life? Overpopulation? I don’t get the connection here.
Your implication that drastic measures against overpopulation will be inevitable is also not correct since 1. the population in 1st world countries is essentially only growing through immigration and 2. technology will improve as well and open up new possibilities we can’t even think of. Whether technology or population will grow faster is something none of us can know.
The problem is that technology only helps the few who can afford it. We’re living in the 21st century, and more than half the world’s population doesn’t have electricity let alone cellphones and the internet and access to competent healthcare.
As much as I hate conspiracy theories, there is definitely a conspiracy here, whether by conscious design or by simple Darwinian evolution. The population crunch will be dealt with by having rich countries survive and prosper while the poor are left to kill themselves off. I don’t mean by suicide by disease, violence or even by genocide which none of the privileged few seem to know/care about. I’m several decades old and I just found out about Rwanda (where in 1994 a population the size of montana was slaughtered), and more ashamedly I still don’t know what’s going on in Darfur, Sudan, Cambodia, Somalia, Congo, Bosnia… etc… etc…
^ should read “I don’t mean by suicide BUT by disease, violence etc”
You have to understand that many who are at the bottom rank of society often try and seek a way out before they resort to homelessness, poverty and crime. There is no need to use force. Legalizing AVD would address many social problems because these people would have a way to end their lives before they become a problem to society. We are not just addressing first world countries – over population is a global issue and we have to take a holistic approach to the challenges we face. As of now due to policies that are favored by religious groups there is a major obstacle for AVD to be widely accepted.
OK I found who mentioned “overpopulation” (not me) but I’m having trouble finding who talked about religion, so it’s not clear who you’re replying to for that part of it at the least. (If somehow that part is directed at me– like if you conflated my use of “morals” as being synonymous with “religion” –then I think you’ve misunderstood what I was saying.)
As destitute as my situation is I still think that life is sacred and should be protected. Terminal illnesses and the elderly excluded, I stand by the accepted attitude regarding euthanasia.
Why do you believe that life is sacred? What about the idea that we as individuals have the right to self-determination because ultimately we own and live our own lives? Do you really believe that our lives belong to society or the government? Remember when slavery was still legal, those slaves had no right to decide for their own lives…
i understand that but so many people with potential would be ending their lives prematurely if it was open to just anybody. It would be a damn shame of the next best selling novel or what have you offed themselves before accomplishing something great. Anyone offing themselves is a damn shame. I’ve been in your state of mind before and I think you’ll see things differently with more clarity.
Wow… isn’t it naive to say that you can understand a person’s state of mind just by reading a few blog entries? Whether or not somebody decides to make an accomplishment depends entirely on him/her. What gives society the right to impose on people to contribute to the world? Again, ultimately it depends on what you believe who owns your life.
I would rather have the suicide booth from futurama instead. I’ve never forgotten about that after 9 years lol
Either life is sacred and no assisted suicide should exist or it’s not sacred and assisted suicide should exist. As soon as exemptions are made then things get muggy. Either/or. Let us peacefully and safely exit the world in controlled circumstances.
@Anunnaki: As I see it, either loss of life is not acceptable under any circumstances and therefore must be prevented at any cost (because after a certain point, suicidal individuals will need plenty of social support), or loss of life is acceptable under some circumstances and should be facilitated. For society to simultaneously compel all persons to live, but then ignore the suffering of that fraction of persons who feel they cannot be of any benefit is immoral in my view. It’s always been disappointing to me that so many people think a person having a disability or just severe difficulties should be considered a reasonable excuse to let them feel so unwanted and unsupported as to want to die, as if disabled (or poor, often both) people aren’t human or are some kind of blight on society.
Two compelling posts on the right to die:
http://suicideproject.org/2012/06/the-right-to-die/
http://suicideproject.org/2012/08/the-right-to-die-2/