![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've been reading with some interest reports of Canada's MAID (medical assistance in dying) laws and their effects. Back when I was in high school, Dr. Kevorkian was in the news a lot with his assisted suicide efforts in America, and I wrote an essay defending assisted suicide, as I thought it was merciful to allow the terminally ill to die without pain and suffering. One of the counter-arguments to that view was that eventually people who were not terminally ill but who had expensive medical needs would be encouraged to kill themselves. Surely not, young Ormstunga wrote. I had a lot to learn. Now, people with chronic conditions in Canada are offing themselves because they can't get adequate housing. When Republicans talked about socialized medicine leading to death panels, I thought they were being drama queens. I don't know that Canada has adopted any kind of death panels as of yet, but given how the Covid restrictions played out there, it wouldn't surprise me much. I could easily see them "encouraging" reluctant patients to off themselves at this point instead of it being an elective procedure.
(On a slightly different but related note, every time I see "MAID", I think of some sort of monstrous Old Maid, a gaunt, wizened, and shadowy figure collecting souls. Probably too many bad horror books and films when I was a kid).
Given the values and thinking prevalent on the political left at this point, I could easily see the idea of people offing themselves in the name of leftist ideology getting traction. Since Canada is tacitly encouraging inconvenient people to kill themselves to prevent them from being a drain on society, how long will it be before climate change warriors start killing themselves to ease the burden of their carbon footprint? Seem unlikely? Not from where I'm sitting. Increasingly, leftists see people as a burden on the planet, our energy reserves, and an inconvenience to society (see arguments for abortion rights as a fine example). With a pseudo-rationalist mindset, full-on retreat into intellectual abstraction, and Darwinian perspective on existence untempered by any kind of belief in spiritual principles, it seems like nothing but a matter of time to me before suiciding out is considered honorable, noble, and brave. They will be willing sacrifices to the Great God Progress.
It should be noted that there is a precedent for the political left to decide their political opponents are inconvenient and would be better off dead, too, but that is a bit beyond the scope of this piece.
Kurt Vonnegut used to be one of my favorite authors. I think I read most of his books in my 20s and 30s, and while I'd probably disagree with a lot of his ideas on life and politics now, they resonated with me quite a bit then. One of his creations that stuck with me was called an Ethical Suicide Parlor, where nice virginal ladies in a sexy get-ups put volunteers to sleep with hypodermic syringes. The parlors are run by the government, of course. There's probably a lot to unpack there, especially in light of the Covid vaxxes that are crippling and killing people (especially leftists) right and left, but that will have to wait for another time.
(On a slightly different but related note, every time I see "MAID", I think of some sort of monstrous Old Maid, a gaunt, wizened, and shadowy figure collecting souls. Probably too many bad horror books and films when I was a kid).
Given the values and thinking prevalent on the political left at this point, I could easily see the idea of people offing themselves in the name of leftist ideology getting traction. Since Canada is tacitly encouraging inconvenient people to kill themselves to prevent them from being a drain on society, how long will it be before climate change warriors start killing themselves to ease the burden of their carbon footprint? Seem unlikely? Not from where I'm sitting. Increasingly, leftists see people as a burden on the planet, our energy reserves, and an inconvenience to society (see arguments for abortion rights as a fine example). With a pseudo-rationalist mindset, full-on retreat into intellectual abstraction, and Darwinian perspective on existence untempered by any kind of belief in spiritual principles, it seems like nothing but a matter of time to me before suiciding out is considered honorable, noble, and brave. They will be willing sacrifices to the Great God Progress.
It should be noted that there is a precedent for the political left to decide their political opponents are inconvenient and would be better off dead, too, but that is a bit beyond the scope of this piece.
Kurt Vonnegut used to be one of my favorite authors. I think I read most of his books in my 20s and 30s, and while I'd probably disagree with a lot of his ideas on life and politics now, they resonated with me quite a bit then. One of his creations that stuck with me was called an Ethical Suicide Parlor, where nice virginal ladies in a sexy get-ups put volunteers to sleep with hypodermic syringes. The parlors are run by the government, of course. There's probably a lot to unpack there, especially in light of the Covid vaxxes that are crippling and killing people (especially leftists) right and left, but that will have to wait for another time.