The New York Times Magazine section featured two interesting stories this morning, both of which had to do with death. The first had to do with an ex Washington State Governor who was working to make legal assisted suicide (and, in his case, his own death because of disabilities brought on by Parkinson’s disease). Toward the end of the magazine is the story about a bird lover who shot a “feral” cat who was decimating defenseless birds along a beach in Texas. His case is coming up and he might be imprisoned and fined for protecting birds but killing the cats that killed the birds.
There are entirely too many humans inhabiting the world in the 21st Century. This is not to say that there should be forced birth control (as tried by China and I believe is still the law there) for humans or enforcing laws that outlaw the killing of feral cats who, by nature, stalk and kill birds. There may be too many cats that go feral but fed by cat lovers. These are balanced by either realists or simply cat haters who drown bags of newborns and in other ways try to limit their numbers. The arguments for all sides go on but the one about humans assisting other humans to kill themselves is the most interesting.
The names and statistics of the Washington father and son who oppose each other on the merits of legalizing what is already legal in Oregon are not important. I had thought that the machine rigged up by a doctor years ago (Doctor Death or Dr. Kevorkian) to let an individual who wanted to die pull the trigger or push the button to kill himself was settled and done with. However, there is Oregon that made it legal and there is a Washington effort to do the same there.
I do think that persons who suffer from Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s and other conditions where one can linger for years in suffering and lack of dignity should have a say in how long their pain should make their lives a living hell. This is not for the delicate and the timid – either those who suffer or those who watch and want to help. We have sanitized dying and death for some while most pass on without dignity.
You can look at the situation presented in these two stories as one where nature provides for winnowing out the herd (the weak are killed by the predators) or the flocks (in this instance, cats killing defenseless birds). What is proposed in the law cases involving self-administered death and killing off predators so cute birds may live is fought by others on the other side who protest and say let nature take its course. Nature does provide measures to prevent anomalies from living but our health profession keeps many who could have died alive for many years, surprising everyone. Do you think this is a case of nature versus nurture?