One thing that many people overlook is that once we start deciding that death is the treatment of choice for serious illnesses, we have removed any incentive for drug companies or scientists/physicians in general to seek cures.
Many things that were once very expensive to treat and had a hopeless prognosis (childhood lukemia, for example) by now have almost routine treatments and a high level of success. In addition, in the course of treating for extreme conditions, cures or ameliatorive treatments are often found for more ordinary ailments, and this may even result in a decline in the cost of treating them.
In other words, by giving an automatic death sentence to anybody who has a serious expensive illness, we are cutting off the way to future treatments that may benefit us all.
But that sums up utilitarian, socialist society in a nutshell: shortsighted, hopeless, and uninventive.
One thing that many people overlook is that once we start deciding that death is the treatment of choice for serious illnesses, we have removed any incentive for drug companies or scientists/physicians in general to seek cures.I'm repeating this because I tried to say something similar but didn't say it as well as you did.Many things that were once very expensive to treat and had a hopeless prognosis (childhood lukemia, for example) by now have almost routine treatments and a high level of success. In addition, in the course of treating for extreme conditions, cures or ameliatorive treatments are often found for more ordinary ailments, and this may even result in a decline in the cost of treating them.
In other words, by giving an automatic death sentence to anybody who has a serious expensive illness, we are cutting off the way to future treatments that may benefit us all.
But that sums up utilitarian, socialist society in a nutshell: shortsighted, hopeless, and uninventive.
Thank you, livius. Excellent, excellent, post.
The best example of your point is the Salk-Sabin vaccine. Older Boomers remember the terror of polio, especially in the summer. My husband was among the very first schoolchildren to be vaccinated.