I’ve also got a huge collection of Orwell’s essay’s that I’ve been meaning to get to as well. You make a compelling argument that I should get to that sooner rather than later.
I'm not sure MAID is a good analogy for eugenics. Leaving aside eugenics was more focused on breeding than dying. We do in the modern world have a lot of people dabbling with eugenics and human breeding but they are centering themselves on one side of the spectrum. Just hinting.
I think the appeal is a bit like flat earthism but stronger. It has the common sense appeal, don't we like some genes more than others? Don't we do it all the time not only with animals but plants? Are there really no cases of "three generations of imbeciles"?
The argument for it lends itself to a lot of pithy phrases and slogans. It also lends itself to ego heavy characters puffing themselves up as "men (it's always men) who can make the hard call without the emotionalism!". The arguments against it are, well, a book and we seem to be moving out of the age when book level arguments are even considered.
"In 2021, just five years later, that requirement was removed. They were also assured that poor people would never be pushed into it, and yet that’s what happened with “Sophie” who resorted to it when she couldn’t find housing."
Ok but like many of these cases, the claim seems more geared for the sensational story. Nowhere do I find any source that claims she got MAID because she was poor or couldn't find housing? Actually it wasn't that she couldn't find housing but she claimed she had 'multiple chemical sensitivity' making any home unacceptable if there were traces of a host of things like previous smokers, detergent or perfume.
But we don't actually know anything about her or the circumstances of her death. The gov't can't release medical records and even her name is hidden from us because her family insists on not releasing it.
I'd seriously issue these challenges then:
1. Has the age adjusted Canadian death rate increased? If it hasn't that is a sign MAID is getting overly hyped. While that doesn't mean there won't be questionable cases it would indicate that it is being used by people who would not normally have lived much longer.
2. Has the suicide rate dramatically decreased? Obviously if MAID has started being used by people it wasn't really meant for, the most obvious population would be those who would have committed suicide but now have a gov't option to help them provided they say the right things to the right doctors. Wouldn't that show up then in an odd decline in the suicide rate?
This might not be a sure fire proof. I could see a counter argument that many suicides prefer the illegal method they choose or are impulsive so MAID being an available option wouldn't impact the suicide rate much.
You are correct it hasn't shown up much in the numbers yet. But it's still early days. I would argue that it won't stay where it's at. That either it will show up in the numbers or people will be so alarmed by the anecdotes and where it appears to be headed that it follow the path of Eugenics. Lots of support but eventually moral horror. Let's circle back in 5-10 years.
Is it so early? Quick AI query tells me it was adopted in 2016. From 16-24 76K used it and it is running at about 15K people per year.
How many die each year in Canada?
Year Total Deaths Notable Context
2024 326,779 Preliminary data; mortality rates decreased across all age groups.
2023 327,546 First significant drop (-2.4%) following the pandemic peak.
2022 334,623 Peak mortality year, heavily impacted by COVID-19.
In 2021 the median age in Canada was 41 but actually went down to 40.3 in 2023. (immigration? Covid taking out older people? a mini-pandemic baby boom? Not sure).
I'm happy to give another decade but the claims of the 'death panel' crowd hasn't really panned out. The 'system' makes just as much or more money providing treatment as it would cutting all that short with euthanasia or even just hospice (which has become something of a booming business of its own).
The question I'd ask is leaving aside the question of whether it's ok for a terminally ill person to cut their life short, what portion of 330K 'normal' deaths a year would be cases where if you were going to have euthanasia, you'd say "I would expect it from cases like that". Given low rates of violence or even accidents, would it be crazy to say a third of Canada's yearly deaths would qualify? That's 100K.
> Short words startle them, while long words soothe them
Orwell makes a very similar point in Politics and the English Language.
I’ve also got a huge collection of Orwell’s essay’s that I’ve been meaning to get to as well. You make a compelling argument that I should get to that sooner rather than later.
Yes you should. Are you familiar with https://orwell.substack.com/ ?
I was not, but I have just subscribed.
I'm not sure MAID is a good analogy for eugenics. Leaving aside eugenics was more focused on breeding than dying. We do in the modern world have a lot of people dabbling with eugenics and human breeding but they are centering themselves on one side of the spectrum. Just hinting.
I think the appeal is a bit like flat earthism but stronger. It has the common sense appeal, don't we like some genes more than others? Don't we do it all the time not only with animals but plants? Are there really no cases of "three generations of imbeciles"?
The argument for it lends itself to a lot of pithy phrases and slogans. It also lends itself to ego heavy characters puffing themselves up as "men (it's always men) who can make the hard call without the emotionalism!". The arguments against it are, well, a book and we seem to be moving out of the age when book level arguments are even considered.
"In 2021, just five years later, that requirement was removed. They were also assured that poor people would never be pushed into it, and yet that’s what happened with “Sophie” who resorted to it when she couldn’t find housing."
Ok but like many of these cases, the claim seems more geared for the sensational story. Nowhere do I find any source that claims she got MAID because she was poor or couldn't find housing? Actually it wasn't that she couldn't find housing but she claimed she had 'multiple chemical sensitivity' making any home unacceptable if there were traces of a host of things like previous smokers, detergent or perfume.
But we don't actually know anything about her or the circumstances of her death. The gov't can't release medical records and even her name is hidden from us because her family insists on not releasing it.
I'd seriously issue these challenges then:
1. Has the age adjusted Canadian death rate increased? If it hasn't that is a sign MAID is getting overly hyped. While that doesn't mean there won't be questionable cases it would indicate that it is being used by people who would not normally have lived much longer.
2. Has the suicide rate dramatically decreased? Obviously if MAID has started being used by people it wasn't really meant for, the most obvious population would be those who would have committed suicide but now have a gov't option to help them provided they say the right things to the right doctors. Wouldn't that show up then in an odd decline in the suicide rate?
This might not be a sure fire proof. I could see a counter argument that many suicides prefer the illegal method they choose or are impulsive so MAID being an available option wouldn't impact the suicide rate much.
You are correct it hasn't shown up much in the numbers yet. But it's still early days. I would argue that it won't stay where it's at. That either it will show up in the numbers or people will be so alarmed by the anecdotes and where it appears to be headed that it follow the path of Eugenics. Lots of support but eventually moral horror. Let's circle back in 5-10 years.
Is it so early? Quick AI query tells me it was adopted in 2016. From 16-24 76K used it and it is running at about 15K people per year.
How many die each year in Canada?
Year Total Deaths Notable Context
2024 326,779 Preliminary data; mortality rates decreased across all age groups.
2023 327,546 First significant drop (-2.4%) following the pandemic peak.
2022 334,623 Peak mortality year, heavily impacted by COVID-19.
In 2021 the median age in Canada was 41 but actually went down to 40.3 in 2023. (immigration? Covid taking out older people? a mini-pandemic baby boom? Not sure).
I'm happy to give another decade but the claims of the 'death panel' crowd hasn't really panned out. The 'system' makes just as much or more money providing treatment as it would cutting all that short with euthanasia or even just hospice (which has become something of a booming business of its own).
The question I'd ask is leaving aside the question of whether it's ok for a terminally ill person to cut their life short, what portion of 330K 'normal' deaths a year would be cases where if you were going to have euthanasia, you'd say "I would expect it from cases like that". Given low rates of violence or even accidents, would it be crazy to say a third of Canada's yearly deaths would qualify? That's 100K.
I'd be surprised if we see that.
If you think the mentally disabled shouldn't have kids then you're literally Hitler