Quote:
Originally Posted by Cowboy89
I think this summarizes my feelings well. It's sad that the value of life now in the western world is being distilled solely into whether or not a person is deriving present enjoyment out of the ride that is life and that their lives don't have any other greater purpose or meaning to other individuals or society itself.
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Well, could it perhaps also in some ways be considered a correction?
In the far past life was nasty, brutish and short and over time we've come to the point where people are living much longer, perhaps in some cases too long.
We've gone from lives that are too short, to some that are too long, and maybe when a person feels that their incremental quality of life has deteriorated to a undesirable point that they're done.
And simply forcing them to hang around unhappy or in pain because their loved ones want them there, perhaps thats selfish on the part of the family members rather than it being selfish on the part of the person who wants to go.
Anecdotally I've had family members who have clung on far longer than they'd have liked. My Grandmother had Alzheimer's that progressed into Dementia and she languished in a Care Facility for almost 20 years just waiting for her body to give up.
You couldnt take her anywhere, do anything with her or even so much as talk with her. The lights were on but nobody was home. She didnt know who she was, she didnt remember anyone, not even herself.
If you've never watched someone exist in a perpetual state of terror I wouldnt recommend it.
Even when Nurses came in to clean her, change her sheets, feed her, administer medication she would react as someone who had never seen this person before in her life despite having seen them a thousand times, often several times that day already.
So I do think that there is a place for this, however I am hesitant about the concept of attempting to eliminate the 'human element.' That seems unwise.