I recently watched a poignant documentary, Life After, that I think many could find interesting. It’s available online and on Hulu.
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/life-after/
From the website:"Disabled filmmaker Reid Davenport investigates assisted dying and uncovers how ableism, policy, and systemic failures can make death seem like the only option. With gripping stories and a personal mission, Life After explores who gets real choice, and who doesn’t, in life and death."
It comes down to some people are afraid of dying in general , perhaps the finality of it, so they fight it to the bitter end . And some of us , like you and I , are afraid of living too long near the end. And YES, you and I have seen FAR TOO MANY live TOO LONG near the end .
I’m with Alva on this one . We should stop making people try to live forever and suffer . I also agree a more humane choice should be available , like we do for our pets . Why drag it out in a slow hospice death as Alva described ? Quicker is more humane .
I don't as an RN see the sense to it. We do not force our beloved animals to go through it. Yet it is expected for each of us.
So to me, KNOW the facts. Know ALL the facts, and I am certain this documentary gives options for "staying in the fight to the end". BUT, make your choice, and vote to HAVE that choice. It is, to be honest, a tremendous comfort to me to know the MAiD laws are here. And to be honest, if I lived in Europe, with easy access to Pegasos, to Dignatas, et al. I would likely already be gone. Just saying. I have been here. I have done this. I have loved it. But as Mark Twain observed, I was dead a long time before I was born and it didn't impact me appreciably.
It's all about the 'Haves' and the 'Have-Nots' in life and death, my friend.
Being elderly has been made into a weapon to help get rid of the middle class in America. It's sort of like why in the Catholic Church the clergy wasn't allowed to marry. It was to make sure that any inheritances a priest, nun, or monk received go to the church because they have no heirs to inherit. Monks and nuns also take the vow of poverty so if they get left something, it goes to the church.
Old age becomes so expensive that every cent a person worked for and saved all their lives is usually burned through in a very short time on their care needs. Also, we're living in times where almost all women work so they can't be enslaved to an elder's care needs 24/7 because they're not home anymore. So elders can't leave something for their children and grandchildren to inherit anymore. When the middle class was able to leave a piece of property or small investments or insurances this is what made the generation after them a little better off. So maybe it meant the grandkids could go to college. Or their family home could be paid off. This is not so anymore. Soon enough there will be no more middle class.