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I just read this interesting perspective from a guy who is dying of Lou Gherig's--"The Good Short Life."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/op...l?pagewanted=2
In it, he discusses life with a terminal illness, and death. He says:
In response, David Brooks writes an op-ed focusing on the futility of expensive life-extending medical care and how it is driving our budget problems (he's only partly right there). http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/15/op...nes&emc=tha212
I tend to agree with both of them, that on the one hand, we spend far too much on end of life care. But others make some good points, like Mickey Kaus, who is opposed to both Paul Ryan and Obama's plans because both attempt to ration care if only by different names. Ryan through limiting the size of the voucher or subsidy, and Obama by his governmental panels, etc. Both, in effect, say "We will spend X amount on health care, and no more." Kaus's argument is that we spend so much on end of life care because people die when they get sick and when they get sick they need medical care. So it is to be expected that end-of-life care is going to cost more than other care. The people who aren't dying aren't sick. Surely there's something to that.
But I'm wondering more about how we think about death rather than budget concerns. In an episode of Rome, after Mark Antony has lost the war with Octavian and his death seems imminent, Antony and Lucius Vorenus have the following conversion:
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zte5mnWxpK0"]‪Do you believe there is an afterlife?‬‏ - YouTube[/nomedia]
To Vorenus the notion that there is no afterlife is absurd. He is highly religious and superstitious, though violent and often cruel, as was typical of his society. This came to mind because of I've been thinking about how other cultures think of death. For the ancient Romans, death was all around. Absurdly high mortality rates, constant bloody wars, dire poverty, plagues, etc. But in the fictional scene I quoted, Antony is contemplating commuting suicide. Killing yourself was quite common and often the honorable thing to do for a general who lost a war. Your honor was worth more than your life.
I think we see something similar in parts of the Muslim world even today. We see honor killings, suicide bombers, etc. Their sense of honor (not my definition) is much more similar to that of the people of antiquity than ours.
But about the afterlife. If a person truly believes in an afterlife, and a good one at that, then wouldn't reason dictate less fear of death? Instead, our largely christian society seems to treat death as a terrible end, rather than the transition that is proclaimed as dogma.
I wouldn't expect that a parent would morn the death of a child any less whether the parent truly believes in an afterlife or not. But do atheists or other non-Christians have less fear of their own demise than their christian counterparts? I wonder. Do you agree that for the most part, the public's actions, words, and reactions belie true belief in an afterlife? That most are not truly convinced of the notion?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/op...l?pagewanted=2
In it, he discusses life with a terminal illness, and death. He says:
f I choose to have the tracheotomy that I will need in the next several months to avoid choking and perhaps dying of aspiration pneumonia, the respirator and the staff and support system necessary to maintain me will easily cost half a million dollars a year. Whose half a million, I don’t know.
I’d rather die.
I’d rather die.
I’m dancing, spinning around, happy in the last rhythms of the life I love. When the music stops — when I can’t tie my bow tie, tell a funny story, walk my dog, talk with Whitney, kiss someone special, or tap out lines like this — I’ll know that Life is over.
“We have arrived at a moment,” Callahan and Nuland conclude, “where we are making little headway in defeating various kinds of diseases. Instead, our main achievements today consist of devising ways to marginally extend the lives of the very sick.”
Others disagree with this pessimistic view of medical progress. But that phrase, “marginally extend the lives of the very sick,” should ring in the ears. Many of our budget problems spring from our quest to do that.
Others disagree with this pessimistic view of medical progress. But that phrase, “marginally extend the lives of the very sick,” should ring in the ears. Many of our budget problems spring from our quest to do that.
But I'm wondering more about how we think about death rather than budget concerns. In an episode of Rome, after Mark Antony has lost the war with Octavian and his death seems imminent, Antony and Lucius Vorenus have the following conversion:
MA: Do you believe there is an afterlife?
LV: Of course.
MA: Well there are people who say no. And this is all there is.
LV: Who says that?
MA: Learned Men. Greeks Probably.
LV: Greeks? Greeks talk a whole pile of nonsense.
MA: F#$% 'em
LV: F#$% 'em
LV: Of course.
MA: Well there are people who say no. And this is all there is.
LV: Who says that?
MA: Learned Men. Greeks Probably.
LV: Greeks? Greeks talk a whole pile of nonsense.
MA: F#$% 'em
LV: F#$% 'em
To Vorenus the notion that there is no afterlife is absurd. He is highly religious and superstitious, though violent and often cruel, as was typical of his society. This came to mind because of I've been thinking about how other cultures think of death. For the ancient Romans, death was all around. Absurdly high mortality rates, constant bloody wars, dire poverty, plagues, etc. But in the fictional scene I quoted, Antony is contemplating commuting suicide. Killing yourself was quite common and often the honorable thing to do for a general who lost a war. Your honor was worth more than your life.
I think we see something similar in parts of the Muslim world even today. We see honor killings, suicide bombers, etc. Their sense of honor (not my definition) is much more similar to that of the people of antiquity than ours.
We use words like honor...code...loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline.
I wouldn't expect that a parent would morn the death of a child any less whether the parent truly believes in an afterlife or not. But do atheists or other non-Christians have less fear of their own demise than their christian counterparts? I wonder. Do you agree that for the most part, the public's actions, words, and reactions belie true belief in an afterlife? That most are not truly convinced of the notion?
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