Posted on 01/22/2013 9:33:03 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The minister, Taro Aso, is only saying out loud what many government officials in countries with nationalized health care are thinking: people are getting older, living longer, and becoming a drain on our national budgets.
From the Guardian:
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Japan's new government is barely a month old, and already one of its most senior members has insulted tens of millions of voters by suggesting that the elderly are an unnecessary drain on the country's finances.
Taro Aso, the finance minister, said on Monday that the elderly should be allowed to "hurry up and die" to relieve pressure on the state to pay for their medical care.
"Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government," he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. "The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die."
Aso's comments are likely to cause offence in Japan, where almost a quarter of the 128 million population is aged over 60. The proportion is forecast to rise to 40% over the next 50 years.
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The remarks are also an unwelcome distraction for the new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, whose first period as Japan's leader ended with his resignation after just a year, in 2007, partly due to a string of gaffes by members of his cabinet.
I am probably too old to see it, but I have little doubt that eventually, a "Solyent Green" scenario will become real and government will set up suicide centers for the elderly to "hurry up and die" if they wish.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I wouldn’t cry if one of the elderly capped this minister.
What a boneheaded thing to say in a society that places a high value on their older citizens.
Don’t we still have Enola Gay around somewhere?
But seriously, I was taught that going around saying how you think certain people need to die is a good way to get your own lamp blown out. Maybe thats a Texas thing.
He’d better be careful what he wishes for - he’s 71 himself.
From an Internet source: "[Democrat] Richard D. Lamm of Colorado said Tuesday. [Talking about seriously ill elderly] 'You've got a duty to die and get out of the way,' said the 48-year-old Governor."
Side note: To see the look on the faces of Japanese tourists when they come upon her is interesting.
About 25% over 60 is bad enough, but 40% over 60? That’s catastrophic, no society can survive that. Japan will probably be wiped out long before 2050.
Even Asian societies are losing respect for their elders. The selfish young quickly forget the society and its comforts were built by generations past and the living elderly. They say, Pass on, die now that we young must provide some support for you old ones!”
They say that now, will they be willing to step off a cliff when years pass and they are old? You reap what you sow.
Undoubtedly he has the resources to pay for his own healthcare, or it won't apply to valuable public servants like him, or something.
Liberalism is the culture of destruction and death vs. a culture which builds and cares for their own...
Sarah Palin was right on the trend toward Death Panels. Charles Dickens was right on the attitude of the elite ruling class. I just hope conservatives are wrong on where this experiment with socialized medicine and national socialism is taking our country.
At what age is it "appropriate" for this guilt to kick in???
It is only a matter of time.
Taro Aso...
Aso, as-sole.
Drop dead, lowlife scumbag.
Yep. Once killing the unborn was considered okay it’s a very slippery slope for anyone else deemed to be inconvenient.
Congressman Grayson, call your office.
The one thing, Progressives, socialists, Marxists, statists all have in common is their love of killing all at the same time successfully taking the moral high ground on life (only because of a willing press).
From abortions to culling the elderly herd, death is their common bond. Remember the slut who said she would give bill clinton a bj as long as he kept abortion legal?
Vermin like George B. Shaw wanted death panels where you had to justify your existence. He has quite a following in the progressive community.
It must be a fine balancing act to keep enough people alive so as to support the ruling elite’s life style while at the same time killing off as many as possible to keep population down.
Maybe, if the citizens of the world had an average IQ over 20, we would insist, leaders lead in every action they impose on the rest of us. Abort their kids. Make the leaders be the point person on the ground in all battles between nations. Leaders are our enemy. Millions will dance on the head of a pin to try and refute that statement.
I think the whole point of this thread is how wrong it is to view death as a solution to problems. Death IS the problem.
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