You are very lucky. That is not always the case. It is not a scare tactic tp say that a doctor can go to court and get authority to provide or remove a treatment if they so desire ( the cases are all over the news when it happens——people who want to refuse treatments and aren’t allowed to and people who want life saving measures that they can’t get). No where in my post did you ever see anything that said I wanted the government to make these decisions. All I said was it is important for people to protect themselves.
If you do not have one in place the doctors will do what they want.
I rather doubt I was lucky. Beside my two experiences, I have family members with similar ones. Yes, there are some doctors who will push their authority, but it's rare despite the sensational cases that hit the news. To me, your post made doctors sound much like Obama did when he talked about unnecessary tonsillectomies. Doctors, being human and all, have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I don't believe as a group they all want to play God.
And, yes, a living will and care directives are a good idea, but if someone doesn't have on it doesn't mean they doctors will take carte blanche.