Month: April 2013

Without Legalising Assisted Suicide & the Right to Die, it is an uncomfortable truth that we are kinder to our animals than we are to other human beings

Without realising that we even do so, it is quite normal for us to look upon any situation and even the content of a conversation in terms of how its content affects us personally at some level.

Fear permeates the decisions that people make at the deepest levels and whilst this can easily prove to be a self-destructive trait, it can also lead to arguably selfish acts in the extreme, when considering the impact and consequences these decisions can have upon others.

Most of us grew up conditioned to think this way and unaware of the processes at work. It is therefore possible to become quite blasé about the way we talk about issues which may not seem to affect us directly, but nonetheless have the effect of pushing a deeply concealed emotional ‘button’ that twangs our personalities just the same once pressed.

Death is one such issue and one that provokes all kinds of responses from people. Probably because of the many unknowns that surround it and the very definite nature of its existence for us as part of our human experience.

When I suffered the acute stages of a serious illness that nearly killed me at 28, I was forced to look my own mortality in the eye. In doing so, I became aware of how self-focused and personal the issues surrounding death can be for partners, relatives and friends who are not going through the experience physically themselves.

My own experience provided invaluable insight and understanding when dealing with the terminal illness and decline of my father, whom I hope may have been at some advantage by having such nearby support.

Sadly, others forced to deal with their own mortality and the many conditions that facilitate terminal decline do not receive that same level of understanding and selflessness that they need from us all and it seems incredible that rules are made for the dying by a majority who have never or may never have experienced what it could be like to be terminally ill, when their perspective on mortality may be dramatically different from what it may be right now.

Our inherent fear of death and the lack of control that we have over it does mean that for many the issue of Assisted Suicide or Right to Die is undoubtedly a personal one. Rather than it being a matter of ethics as many in the world would prefer us to believe.

Very few people are likely to covet death at any time; even those who commit suicide without any form of premeditated suggestion that they are readying themselves to do so.

Suicide is itself a matter of escape and release at a very personal level. It is unlikely that any other person will ever understand the complexity of issues, emotions and pain that any suicidal person is experiencing at that time – no matter how learned they are or how well they have been trained.

It is the same for those contemplating the need for Assisted Suicide or their Right to Die.

As a society, we now not only need to recognise this; we must put personal feelings and perceptions aside and provide help to those who have reasoned and concluded that it would be better for them to be assisted to end their life, without any threat of recourse or stigma being attached to those who have provided or would willingly facilitate that help.

Our fear of Legalising Assisted Suicide and the taboo of the subject are borne from the concern that through illness or debilitation, we could find ourselves or loved-ones unable to communicate with or have influence with the outside world as we now know it. That subsequently, the decision will be made to end our own or their life in that situation whether we consent to it or not.

Such perceptions have been helped little by interpretations of Health Authority Policies such as The Liverpool Pathway. But this should not prevent us from dealing with the subject as we should. If anything, this is the strongest evidence that everything possible must now be done to get this difficult subject addressed in the right way for everyone – and not least of all those who it really concerns.

With input from the Medical Profession, the Government could easily legislate to put the necessary stop-guards in place that would provide the best assurances possible against abuses of a Right to Die.

This could include processes such as a perquisite consultation with 3 independent Doctors and/or Psychologists. Professionals who are likely to know quickly, if an Assisted Death is the right solution if they are able to selflessly put the interests of the patient in question first without any other influences coming in to play.

There is no doubt that those suffering with horrific and terrifying conditions such as Locked-in Syndrome or those who have such low quality of life because of their physical conditions or deterioration should have the right to end their lives, with help, if they so choose.

We must all now be big enough to put our own fears aside and make it as easy as it can be for them to do so.

Without Legalising the Right to Die, it is an uncomfortable truth that in terms of our approach to ease of suffering, we are selfishly kinder to our animals than we are to other human beings.

image thanks to http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca

A General Strike will be little more than terrorism in a sanitised form

The saying ‘everything is relative’ is perhaps the most polite way to tell someone that they are being insular; focused only upon the impacts of a wider issue on themselves, or simply failing to grasp that each and every one of us has a different viewpoint and that they could perhaps do well to look at things a different way.

Whilst the possibility has been grumbling in the background for some time, this week has seen the first clear indication that the Unite Union is seeking to take a lead in initiating a General Strike, of the like this Country has not witnessed since 1926. But is this throw-back to an age when Unions may have still possessed some form of genuine purpose actually going to help anybody?

The excuse given for a level of action which is more likely to destroy support for Union Members rather than be of any benefit to it, is of course the measures of ‘austerity’ that the Coalition Government has apparently been taking. It is indeed no secret that these measures are resulting in the loss of jobs and Benefits; but it has also brought an end to the seemingly ceaseless momentum behind enhancement of conditions for professions which are most likely to yield Union Membership.

Even as a former business owner and politician elected on a Conservative ‘ticket’, I myself can see that there was a time when the rights and welfare of workers needed much greater consideration so that exploitation became the exception, rather than a rule in any sense at all.

But we live in very different times and the rights, conditions and systems of support which now exist at every level of business and Government for staff are already far beyond that which the Strikers of the Twenties would have ever dared to have imagined – even in their wildest dreams.

Few businesses would survive today for very long without paying wages that the market can sensibly sustain, or by providing conditions which do not genuinely reflect the value of any role within a business. Therefore, the question that we should now be asking is not whether business and Government should be forcefully coerced into paying more money in wages because of the threat of strike action from Unions, but rather if we as a Nation are already overburdened with Legislation affecting employers and their ability to create new jobs?

I consider myself as being fortunate to know and socialise with people from all walks of life and count many of them as friends. However, it has become increasingly clear that nobody has been insulated against the affects of our age of ‘austerity’, which itself has far more to do with the spiralling rises in the true cost of living for us all, rather than it does the efforts of a lacklustre Government tinkering around the edges of policy, covering cuts with band-aids when the breaks in our whole Society are so very much more profound.

Ironically, it is the very same failure on the part of Politicians to consider the full impact and self-serving nature of their actions (or lack of them) upon others and ultimately themselves that the Unions are now displaying – even by just talking-up the potential of a General Strike. Sadly, the similarities do not end there.

The horrible truth in all this is that neither the Government nor the Unions hold any genuine level of moral currency either in the way that our times of economic hardship have come into being, or by how either would act in their contributions to ultimately attempt to resolve it.

No group that is politically motivated, other than one which is truly and comprehensively people-centric will ever be ethically and morally sound. Until that time, the Unions would do well to remember that even the poorest of our Governments have been elected democratically and by majority votes.

However frustrated any of us feel, there are many more people suffering financial hardship beyond the realms of just those with Union Membership and there are far more appropriate and reasoned pathways to bring about the change that we all now need.