Vita Pro Omni!
Utility: Prudent or Prejudiced?
As the communal fabrics of society continue to be ripped to shreds and autonomy, meanwhile, proceeds to be built up brick by boring brick, it is no wonder that Americans have largely placed their elderly on the back burner. Perhaps coinciding with the desire not to be burdened by them is the desire for them to be more useful. Our treatment towards them shows that we, often subconsciously, believe people are instrumental; they are valuable as a means to an end rather than as an end in themselves. Unless they can work somewhere, or make something, or contribute to society to a degree which we esteem adequate, they are not worth much of our time.
While other cultures make their aged feel venerated and appreciated, I think most American elderly would say they feel forgotten and neglected. Apparently they fall into a rather unfortunate category. They are among those kinds of people that cannot work somewhere, or make something, or contribute to society; so they are nearly no ones. To give them costly care or commitment might be nice, but it would be financially foolish. Hence, the aged are best suited for life in a mediocre nursing home where they will be out of our way and less of a bother. It’s not that we don’t like them; it just doesn’t make sense to keep them around.
This utilitarian mentality is discriminatory in nature. Actually, it is the same cap a pro-choice person puts on to rationalize abortion. If the pre-born cannot think, cannot speak, cannot do much of anything in the first days of his life, he is part of that category designated for those who are inconvenient to society: the category labeled “human, nonperson.” Sadly, it has nearly (or perhaps already) reached the point where the elderly are tagged with that label, too.
Certainly, there are major practical differences between depersonalizing the elderly and depersonalizing the pre-born. Regarding the former, those persons often decipher the label flagged on them. They begin to know they are overlooked and underloved. So although the fact that the pre-born child is oblivious to their neglect does not make their treatment (or lack thereof) any more moral, it does put the aged in an especially tragic position— especially if they are sick or dying.
Nearly any person who desires physician-assisted suicide changes his mind if he is told a doctor can and will help to alleviate his pain. He naturally wants more time to live— more days with his family and friends, more time to make peace with himself and with God. His request to die is simply a desperate and extreme means of crying out, “I am suffering so greatly that if I cannot stop suffering, I’d rather stop living.” But the “if” is so important. So often physicians are in a position where proper palliative care is available, but expensive. If they could provide it anyway, that “if” would be eliminated and the person would gratefully live a little longer.
Until the American monster Utility is beheaded, people will literally be miserable to the point of death.
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