Really Obnoxious View on Death

[zacc]

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/

The writer above seemed to forget a massive population of folks in his death philosophizing. I'm curious how long he'd want to live if he had Duchenne Muscular dystrophy or another "incapacitating" disability. 

He wants to die at 75 for fear of being "feeble, pathetic, ineffective". I get some of his reasoning but come on! Do you think all that's important in life is family and being a productive member of society.

[Amee]

Unfortunately, I don't think I can read the full article without starting a free trial and giving them payment information.
Although I doubt I'm missing much. Just in the first three paragraphs, his arguments seem silly and in no way new. His "simple truth that many of us seem to resist" is something people, once they reach a certain age, are generally very aware of. Plus, tying it to a certain age, also seems really silly to me.
And of course, the argument that "society and families" would be better off, if people, who are "faltering and declining" just died quickly, is going in a direction he really shouldn't take, if he values things like universal human rights at all. Judging the value of someone's life by what they can contribute to society and families goes fundamentally against the philosophies that lead to the formulating of universal human rights.
And of course, it's also silly to suggest that we can't be valuable to society and families, once we'r "faltering and declining".

I don't know what's in the article beyond the first three paragraphs, but just from those, his seems like a very silly, narrow-minded position to hold.

[britishtetra]

When I first had my accident at 18, I sort of longed for death! I just wanted to get out the way, as I thought I would be a burden on my mum and dad. Last year, I reached 50, and I had my mum and dad all my nieces and nephews, and my sisters and friends celebrating my birthday. And I thought how lucky I am to have such a family. I wrote about this very thing on Facebook a few weeks ago, on a veterans page. It was regards to mothers of veterans, going to the cemetery. We have tetraplegics in England, who are in the 80s and still going strong. Personally, I hope I reach The age of 100, with my grandchildren surrounding the bed… although I did like Tyrian Lannister’s… in my bed, with a belly full of wine and… 😚

Pete 👍

[someonerandom]

Agreed, I think that writer is an asshole. Sure, there are some cases in which an earlier death is preferable, like my 92-year-old grandpa who had dementia. But the “I don’t want to live to old age” idiots are basing their opinion in direct opposition to psychological research, in that people have a tendency to report happier more fulfilling lives as they get older, well into old age. At least, that’s what my psych textbook said 15 years ago. Maybe the new research says that getting a few years past retirement is the worst thing that can happen to a person….. but I would guess that research was funded by capitalists who want us to work until we die too soon to enjoy our meager retirements, in the off-chance that we were able to save for one at all. I think the worst parts of getting old would be the aches, pains, and disease, which may in some cases lead to a situation where euthanasia is a reasonable option. Everything else is societally constructed and unnecessary, like going to a horrible nursing home or having nobody to talk to or nothing to do. Things are only that way because we chose them to be that way, as a society. Even if it was just a minority who chose it.

[Dr. BiPAP Sachin]

Even though there was a paywall, just by reading the first few lines of the article, my mind was made up that the writer sounds like a miserable pos. Dafuq does he even know about death, when I've been through numerous near-death experiences in my lifetime, on account of my DMD? I appreciate that I'm still here, and I know that death will come when it has to with me not having any power to stop it, but regardless of how my DMD has progressed, in the words of the band Korn, I'm here to stay! This writer seems to be coming from a place of insecurity or perhaps ableism.