Wesley J. Smith: Michael Kinsley Wants Baby Boomers to Submit to Death Panels

First Things/Secondhand Smoke ^ | 9/30/10 | Wesley J. Smith

[wagglebee]

Yes, that medical system involves “rationing,” but rationing already goes on here, more than we admit. Why not make it official? Let’s be honest: such a system would cost some Boomers their lives, but they would die in their 80s or 90s, unlike the teens and 20-somethings who gave their lives in World War II. Just a thought.

This "thought" represents the moral collapse of America.

[wagglebee]

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[FlingWingFlyer]

You go ahead Mikey, we’ll catch up with you later.

[GeronL]

It is also possible those other countries don’t do their statistics the same way we do. Which is actually pretty common.

[RnMomof7]

Him first..I will see how that turns out!

[GeronL]

Like the “Infant Mortality” thing. The US seems to count miscarriages while other countries count babies after birth and some a day or three after birth before their counted in the stats.

So you can’t really compare the US and, say, Cuba when it comes to infant mortality.

[Calvin Locke]

Isn't Kinsley a stone's throw from death himself?

Or was?

Perhaps he just wants less competition is the coming battle for rationed Obamacare?

[cajungirl]

Comparing europe to the US is crazy. The populations are not randomly selected, they are not bogged down with a huge fat lower class. And I dot believe they live longer.

[DemforBush]

I didn’t know Michael Kinsely was still around, to be honest.

[GeronL]

I don’t think they live longer either.

[GeronL]

Wasn’t there a conservative writer by that name who died in Iraq?

I’m probably mistaken.

[nascarnation]

Here is the reality, no matter who is running the country:

Medicare has an unfunded liability in excess of 70 trillion dollars.

A huge percentage of seniors are dependent on Medicare and won’t have significant personal resources to spend on care beyond that.

It’s the Bernie Madoff medicine plan.

So rationing and death panels absolutely will happen.

[mia]

And, we also have a population of low income people who do not seek healthcare until they are advanced in their pregnancies, many of whom are into drugs and alcohol.

[jonrick46]

I bet Michael Kinsley is investing in a new corporation called the Soylent Corporation. Yep! That’s the ticket!

[muawiyah]

Michael Kinsley and his friends should provide us with what the Democrats used to call "a demonstration project". I'd even advocate some federal funding for the special drugs and syringes, and the tie downs.

We could call it "The Last Gurney Ride" or something. Give it a holiday or festive atmosphere.

[pallis]

If government weren’t in the healthcare business, these kinds of debates would be passé, part of the bygone totalitarianism of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but because we have enlightened socialist polluting every political and cultural thought, this idiocy is considered progressive.

[neutrino]

In all candor, I fully expect death panels. Frankly, I expect that I (as in me, personally) will get euthanized in a couple decades.

So will many others.

Once that monster is unleashed, its appetite will grow without limit until it has consumed lots and lots of people. That's the ironic point - those who advocate this will, at some point, become fodder.

[muawiyah]

Makes no difference. If you compare Americans to Europeans of the same localized ethnicity, that is Swedes with Swedes, Serbs with Serbs, Swiss Germans with Swiss Germans, Cornish with Cornish, the Americans have lifespans that are equal to or longer than their European counterparts.

If you compare Americans to Africans of the same localized ethnicity, that is Ga to Ga, Fulani to Fulani, Yoruba to Yoruba and the most numerous Ibo to Ibo, the Americans have lifespans equal to or longer than their African counterparts.

This same general characteristic is true when comparing American Arabs to Middle Eastern Arabs, and Armenians to Armenians.

In every level playing field comparison, being American comes out on top.

It's only the aggregate where there's a problem ~ that's when you fail to account for ALL the people in the Old World with people in America. For some reason the analysts just don't want to do that. I think they're trying to hide their cousins in India, rural China and New Guinea!

[mia]

My answer to that is to allow Seniors to purchase their own health insurance. Medicare should only be for catastrophic illness and care. Too many families push grandma and grandpa into medical facilities (nursing homes and assisted living) because they do not want to oversee their care.

Having cared for my parents and my husband's parents into their old age, I can attest to the fact that there were times when we had to visit hospitals or doctor's offices and the physicians wanted to refer them to social workers so that they could be placed under government supervision. I was appalled how easy it was for social services to step in when there was no need.

The real costs are in nursing home care. Sometimes it's necessary, but most times the elder doesn't want to go there. There have to be other ways that are more economical.