Sunday, May 14, 2006

A Couple of Clarification

Since I always seem to catch some recurring themes anytime I post something like "The real reason medical costs are so high", I want to put a couple of points on record:

1. I am well aware that nobody is going to volunteer to die in order to keep medical costs down. In terms of using drugs to artificially increase the lifespan, we've let that genie out of the bottle and it is not going back in. So, why did I post that material in the first place? Because it is the real reason medical costs are so high and all of the other side issues we attack when discussing medical costs are just noise. If a society chooses the "keep the heart beating at all costs" way of doing business, so be it. This just happens to be a side effect of living that philosophy. I'm saying that our society has chosen this path and because it has, there is no call for you to bitch about medical costs because you have brought that monster upon yourselves.

2. Yes, I have seen the Star Trek TNG episode about the society that puts everybody to death when they reach a certain age. Do I favor something like that? No; I would never advocate something as inflexible as that. Obviously, the timetable for somebody to provide valuable contributions to society is not constant. As this is a core philosophical question, there aren't easy answers. Me, I just like the idea of bringing the question in the open and getting it discussed.

Of course, you folks can continue the status quo; call me a "death merchant" and a "Nazi eugenist" for even bringing it up and go back to bitching about high medical costs. Suits me just fine -- it's not like you bastards are paying my bills or anything. Cashing out!