Capital Punishment in Canada

 Nine inmates in Canada have elected to use medical assistance in dying. Some felt it part of their duty to own their debt to society was to free up space, essentially. Gee, I can't see any potential for abuse of a government having no incentive to make a person's life bearable if they thought it would be more convenient if they died, can you? Well, we don't care because they are prisoners and a lot of people wish they could be executed or at least not given the least comfort. But as Lyman Stone says "It's capital punishment by another name." We won't have the cleanness and courage of executing them and owning it.  We sneak it in by a back door, where we can look away and pretend we had nothing to do with it. No, no, no, it was their choice. You want this, don't you Jasper?  You said so just yesterday at group therapy, didn't you? 

It all sounds so sensible, doesn't it? Just like in The Giver.

"You wouldn't want us to waste all that money looking after you in your last years, would you?  Think of all the good that could be done with that money!" That is much of how I fear it will play out in families as well, because grandparents want their children and grandchildren to not be burdened.  They want the granddaughters to be able to go to college. It's so easy to think of it as generous - and in one way it is, whatever selfishness lies underneath it in teaching said granddaughters what their worth is dependent on going forward. But families at least might have some barriers within, or eventually, at least noticeable in looking at other families where this value is common and contemplating how that seems to be working out for that subculture. Though the less family you have (in any sense) the less barrier, I suppose.  Something else that may be following the depressed birthrates.

But for government to provide the service is communicating at some deep level "The tribal elders have decided that your life no longer has value. You mean nothing to us now. Produce food of be food."

As one of my sons observed, it's pretty sad when human beings cannot observe Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

Bsking mentions a book Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People. She notes that the reviews of the book all seem to disagree with (different) parts but still find it compelling. I can only say it looks interesting from here.