I get the story and am sympathetic to the OP, but a little confused about this line:
And while I'm at it, I might want you to die a painful death too.
Is he just angry at everyone?
I Hope My Father Dies Soon
11–20 of 216 posts
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#12Physician assisted suicide is a super slippery slope. I'm stunned when thinking people advocate.
Life is a slippery slope. We need to deal with death like grownups. To address your fears, we should have simple, straightforward protocols for how this would work.
I would say exactly the opposite. To the extent euthanasia might be called for we need unspoken nod and furtive protocols. Explicitly legitimized murder by doctors is a horrible idea.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#13The Singularity is about 30 years out, or so we're led to believe. It takes about 10 years and billions of dollars to create a new drug, and that time and cost is not decreasing.
Stories like this are a grim reminder of how much work we really must do. "Fixing" the human body is a really hard problem.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#14Physician assisted suicide is a super slippery slope. I'm stunned when thinking people advocate.
Really? This is probably the most common anti position ... and its effectively a filibuster. I have absolutely no doubt that we can properly define the conditions for medical assisted suicide (as other nations have done). Lastly, on a more personal note -- it is clear that anyone with the "slippery slope" argument has never lost a loved one to a protracted decline into the inevitable dirt sleep.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#15I get the story and am sympathetic to the OP, but a little confused about this line: And while I'm at it, I might want you to die a painful death too. Is he just angry at everyone?
Everyone who has/is voting against doctor assisted suicide was my interpretation.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#16Physician assisted suicide is a super slippery slope. I'm stunned when thinking people advocate.
As my critical thinking book says, most people walk carefully on ice.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#17Maybe he just didn't mention it, but nowhere in that post does it say that it was his father's wish to die if he was in such a situation.
Helping someone die who made their wishes clear, I'm perfectly okay with. But assuming someone wants to die, I'm not.
Whether his father made it clear or not, I don't know. It just isn't in the post.
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#18Frontline had a nice piece on this issue a couple years ago called The Suicide Tourist:
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#19As broken as our system is (and Scott's obvious pain should make it clear that it _is_ broken), there are things you can do to make it suck just a little less.
Please talk to your family and your doctor about your wishes in terms of life-sustaining care. Even in your 20's, in perfect health, please take some time to become informed about what the options are and how you can express what you want done or not done (this may be a DNR, a MOLST, a living will, or any of a myriad of other options depending on where you live).
If the decision you come to is anything short of "do absolutely everything possible to prolong my life" then be sure to have that paperwork in a safe and readily accessible place (and let your family members know where it is).
Re: I Hope My Father Dies Soon
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Life is a slippery slope. We need to deal with death like grownups. To address your fears, we should have simple, straightforward protocols for how this would work.
I would say exactly the opposite. To the extent euthanasia might be called for we need unspoken nod and furtive protocols. Explicitly legitimized murder by doctors is a horrible idea.
Why?