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What would society look and feel like if criminals, mentally ill, etc, and those who requested euthanization were treated accordingly?
1) Would society be better off in some ways?
2) How would the families of those euthanized feel? Would they empathize with their loved ones, or could they be taught to understand & accept that the world is safer & improved when it's cleansed of harmful and/or unwell people?
3) Would people begin living in constant, horrific fear of the government taking them and/or a loved one? Would such a law cause people to behave better, or worse?
4) There are homeless people & unemployed drug addicts who seek no improvement and pose a threat to others' safety & health. A thread was posted on City Data a few weeks ago about such people in Seattle, OP was pondering, can't these people just be euthanized?
5) As the law stands now, people in pain who are suffering and wish to die are legally obligated to stay alive. Convicted murderers are given rights and their lives are sustained by tax dollars.
6) As laws stand now, understandably, we are obligated to value the preservation of life at all costs. That is the humane, ethical way to treat all people, no matter what.
7) A valuable lesson we're supposed to learn as humans is to take care of others in need. Not only does it (possibly) help others, but it improves & strengthens our character.
8) An opposing thought: But there are some people who truly wish to die, and there are some people the world would be better without because after all the help we've offered them, they remain problematic & harmful.
First, we shouldn't use "the world will be better off" as a criteria. That could lead to abuse. I would theoretically support euthanasia under the following conditions:
1. The person has an incurable illness
2. The person has incurable pain, and
3. The person has agreed to it.
However, like anything, I would worry about abuse even with these safeguards so I am hesitant to give full support. I suspect that many people have already been euthanized by medical personnel who realize that there is no hope for the patient and that they and/or their families would be in support of it. (But I have no proof of this.)
i would love to see this become legal. I watched my Grandmother lie in a bed for 2 years in pain and had to be fed thru a tube. Absolute 0 quality of life...she wanted to die but just couldn't. It would be soooo much better if people could be put to sleep like animals. I had my dog put to sleep about a month ago and I am so thankful that she was able to go with me petting her and telling her to go nite-nite.
Unfortunately, some people would abuse the privilege...but hey, what law isn't abused by some?
i would love to see this become legal. I watched my Grandmother lie in a bed for 2 years in pain and had to be fed thru a tube. Absolute 0 quality of life...she wanted to die but just couldn't. It would be soooo much better if people could be put to sleep like animals. I had my dog put to sleep about a month ago and I am so thankful that she was able to go with me petting her and telling her to go nite-nite.
Unfortunately, some people would abuse the privilege...but hey, what law isn't abused by some?
I say DO IT!
Talking about 2 different topics. You are talking about legalizing medically assisted suicide. I absolutely agree with you. Both my mother and father had zero quality of life and we were helpless to do anything about it because in our state it is illegal. State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org
The topic the OP presents is essentially murdering the homeless and is totally absurd
I'm definitely for it and would gladly take it if it were given as an option for me as one of those "hopeless people". A mental illness is often a slow death sentence anyway.
SUICIDE:
The ONLY "crime" that can be punished if it fails, but can not be punished if it is successful!
As far as I am concerned, EVERYBODY has an absolute right to terminate their life at any time for any reason!
YOU (whoever you are) do NOT have the right to tell me (or anybody else) that I can not die if/when I want to!
It is MY life! It does NOT belong to "Society".
By the same token, "Society" does not have any right to decide that any person is of no possible use any longer, and should be terminated. Although, I have to agree, there are many people out there that are of absolutely no use to anybody, even themselves!
"Society" can ignore them, but it does not have the right to kill them.
What would society look and feel like if criminals, mentally ill, etc, and those who requested euthanization were treated accordingly?
First, I can think of no greater individual freedom than to be able to decide when to end one's own life. But such a decision requires a simple criteria, the ability to objectively evaluate one's existence that automatically excludes the mentally ill. As for criminals, their imprisonment is a social punishment a period of time served as their debt for their criminal acts. As for the "homeless people & unemployed drug addicts who seek no improvement and pose a threat to others' safety & health..." let's drop the polite euphemism, to kill such individual is unconscionable.
When it comes to the your question, "would society be better off in some ways?" As I first stated, to end one's own existence is the ultimate individual freedom. Individual freedom. What society derives or is deprived doesn't enter into the equation. Society has no right outside of acts of "just wars" to take the life of anyone, in my opinion and still consider itself a civilized society. Such a decision is solely for the individual to decide.
Obviously, killing severely developmentally disabled people makes sense in a coldly rational way, but it's a dangerous slippery slope if done without parental consent or past the very early part of life.
Of course suicide should be legal and neatly accessible in some cases.
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