I know some places are more progressive in this regard. But from the U.S., I’d like to see every person entitled to:
- shelter
- food
- healthcare
- education and higher education
(As an aside, not sure “right” is the best term here, I think of these more as commitments that society would make because we have abundance. One advantage of the word “right” is that a person is justified in expecting it - it’s not welfare/ a benefit / a privilege)
The right to die. At least in the US, the way we treat end of life is absolutely backwards and often the opposite of patient care. If someone wants to die despite therapy and health intervention, who are we to deny them?
Yes, this is what I want to see. We give animals more dignity at the end of their life than we give humans.
It’s the same here in the UK. Even terminally ill people are not allowed to end their lives and end up having to go to Dignitas.
There was a story of one guy who was severely disabled. He needed 24-hour care and was just utterly miserable. He appealed for the right to end his life early to put an end to his suffering but the government denied him. He ended up just starving himself to death.
Poor guy. Grim.
I agree 100%, but it’s important to note that it’s a very difficult issue. Whether someone actually wants to die or if they’re mentally ill and are making a terrible irreversible mistake is often quite a tough line to draw, making this a very complex problem to solve.
I absolutely agree when the person has an incurable physical illness, but I’m unsure where to draw the boundary for people with psychological illnesses.
For me it’s the age of the person. If it’s a 20 year old, their health can still get better. If it’s an 80 year old who has lost his whole family and friends and is depressed that’s a whole other thing. That’s something that is probably not going to get fixed.
Canada’s MAID program is a step in the right direction, where next year even people with non-terminal mental illnesses will be eligible for assisted suicide.
I’m not comfortable with mental illnesses being included, because I think especially in the past (but more recently too) suicide being easy and accepted would’ve encouraged me to go ahead with it, which is something I’m glad I haven’t done so far.
Glad you’re with us.