A more perfect world

There was a fine post over at The Hyacinth Girl the other day on the ongoing push for euthanizing our elderly and unwanted. Novelist Martin Amis declared that Britain was facing a demographic time bomb as its ageing population places an impossible burden on society.

The 60-year-old novelist predicted Britain could be engulfed by a 'civil war' between the old and young if it did not tackle its ageing population.

The whole notion that our elderly place an impossible burden on society is flawed at its core. The 'burden', if you will, of our parents are to be borne by us, their children. And it is little burden and more blessing, to care for those that cared for us, and brought us into the world.

'How is society going to support this silver tsunami?There'll be a population of demented very old people, like an invasion of terrible immigrants, stinking out the restaurants and cafes and shops."

How inconvenient.

Amis, a grandfather, added: 'There should be a booth on every corner where you could get a martini and a medal.'

His whole notion is based on a utilitarian concept, that there is no value in life if it cannot produce something tangible for you to consume. This is errant at its core, sadly thankless and heartless.

He told how his support for euthanasia had deepened since the death of his stepfather, Lord Kilmarnock, last year. He said he had wanted to help the Roman Catholic peer to die because it was clear he was fighting a 'lost battle'. He thought he was going to get better. But he didn't. I think the denial of death is a great curse. We all wanted to assist him... it was clearly a lost battle.'

The man wanted to live, was fighting to live, and this relative of his wanted to assist him to the grave? That strikes me as very troubling. David Warren wrote a piece which touched on this topic a while back:

"One cannot begin to appreciate the glory and beauty and preciousness of a human life, until one has grasped how tenuous and transient it is."

I don't know why there is suffering and hardship in this world, but I believe it is wrong for us as people to decide whose lives are worth living, and whose lives are not.