I suspect that everyone who has attained the Methuselah-like age of 80 may well have given thought to his or her own departure. I don’t dwell on that subject but I am quite aware that it exists. Again, I suspect that the dying part is not the major consideration. It is the preliminaries of extended illnesses that precede the actual departure.
This thought about dying came home to me this past week when the popular television commentator, Keith Olbermann, reviewed the circumstances associated with his father’s illness. I know nothing about that illness but I suspect that it is cancer, complicated by several infections. The younger Olbermann said earlier in the week that surgeons had removed his father’s colon. I believe that Keith Olbermann has been deeply concerned about his father for several months. The agony in this case has been extended. Even though his father is probably not aware of what is taking place, the younger Olbermann reads every day to him from James Thurber, one of his favorite authors. Keith Olbermann is a standup guy who has my sympathy during the prolonged period that I suspect may well lead to his father’s demise.
The basic premise for this essay came the other night when the son revealed that he had answered his father’s call for help. The father can not speak because he has a ventilator in his throat but he mouthed the word “help”. Apparently the pain had become so intense that he asked the son to smother him to end his agony. Of course the son did not do that but the father clearly had cast his vote to end his life. For better or worse, it is in my view a matter of decency to honor the father’s request if it can be done in a reasonable fashion.
I am fully aware that people of religion believe that only God or some other deity may start and end life. As a full-fledged non-believer, I dispute this conclusion on rational grounds. For example, Levi Johnson, the 17-year-old child in Wasilla, Alaska was in a “committed relationship” with the former governor’s daughter. Apparently, being in a “committed relationship” entitles one to engage in sexual relations. As the world now knows, Bristol Palin, the former governor’s daughter, now has a child and no prospect of a husband in sight. So in this case, are we to believe that it was a God-like decision for Levi Johnson to impregnate the governor’s daughter? I don’t believe that whatever gods there are would become involved in such a sordid mess.
At the other end of the line, there are suicide bombers in the Middle East who believe that by causing the death of many other human beings they get a one-way ticket to Paradise. It is hard for me to believe that any deity, be it Muslim or Christian or some other faith, would give that his blessing. But be that as it may, in my view it is the ordinary human beings who can start a life without the help of God-like creatures. And in some instances those same influences may lead to the end of life as well, without the intervention of supernatural creatures.
Perhaps the United States invasion of Iraq is the prime example. Did God, Jesus, Allah, or some other sanctified creature give George W. Bush his blessing to end the lives of those who stood in the way of the American army? And what about those 4500 Americans who were lost as a result of Bush’s war against Iraq? I don’t believe that even George Bush, who has often contended that he is guided by God’s wishes, would ever make that assertion.
But so much for other influences as in the case of Levi Johnson. In my humble opinion, if I were involved in a situation such as Mr. Olbermann finds himself, I would want to register my opinions vigorously. In the case of something on the order of Mr. Olbermann’s problem, I may well conclude that after 80 some years on this planet and with the pain and suffering of great intensity, now is the time to pull the plug on it all. What I am really arguing here is that in certain circumstances, there is no point in prolonging the agony of a sick patient. In my own case, I would not want to be smothered but I would like a legitimate way to end my agony and pain.
I am fully aware that this essay may not meet universal voices of praise. But as a fellow who is thinking about the prospects of becoming 90 years of age sometime soon, I believe that it would be appropriate for me to state my views while I am in control of my faculties. In any case, what I wish to hold in this essay is the ability to cast a vote where I am the only one concerned. I know that the doctors, the hospitals, the preachers, and the district attorneys may have a differing point of view. But if I am engaged in the agony of suffering, it seems to me that my vote ought to count for something.
E. E. CARR
March 3, 2010
Essay 442
Postscript: The elder Mr. Olbermann died shortly after this essay was written. The cause was cancer.
I gave this essay to my cardiologist and a discussion about the end of life ensued. He remarked that he hoped all of his patients would have such a discussion before the end occurs.
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Kevin’s commentary: Another cheery essay from Ezra. You know what’s always bothered me about this whole issue? If our dogs are suffering and there is no prospect of recovery, we put them down out of mercy and a desire to end their pain. Yet we deny people that same comfort, even against their explicit wishes. So it is that I agree with Pop completely here, morbid though it may be — a person should have the ultimate say when it comes to the taking of his or her own life. Many people in situations such as Olbermann’s father ultimately choose suicide, which is almost always more traumatizing and painful to everyone involved. It truly is an awful status quo that we have in place.