Non-Zero Utilitarianism and Terri Schiavo
Mar. 23rd, 2005 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsWhat I'm going to say is probably unpleasant to contemplate, but take it at face value. Most of humanity has, for most of human history, loathed and feared other human beings who lack "local" characteristics: "they" have a different color, or speak a different language, or worship a different god. There's not much controversy in that claim.
There is only one group that has, more or less, ignored race, religion, culture, and language, and gleefully interacted with any shape, any color, overcoming language barriers in their pursuit of what they truly wanted. They were not philosophers, scientists, or theologians. No, the one group that really wanted to ignore the differences among men and enjoy only their commonality has been, for centuries, reviled by most right-thinking people.
They were the traders. In pursuit of profit, they ignored everything that was irrelevant to a man's character. Sometimes, this resulted in uglinesses of their own, but you can't deny that 15th century Venetians, 2nd century Romans, and 12th century Chinese merchants ignored what history and tradition said about their neighbors; they simply traded.
Traders have always been mistrusted. They violate the bonds of the tribe and override the instinct to "stick with one's own" in pursuit of something more interesting: economic power.
As unpleasant as it is to contemplate, we tribal humans have never regarded "them, over there" as useful, as worthy, as humans like us until their well-being becomes synonymous with our own, until we understand that their decline would result in our own. Once we've engaged "other people" in a non-zero-sum economic relationship, they become a part of "us." No other human institution has had the power to make us see others as equals quite the way capitalism has succeeded.
As hard and unpleasant as it is to contemplate, Terri Schiavo is no longer "one of us." One of the doctors arguing on the parent's behalf has said that Terri "has the mental capacity of a seven-month-old child, and you wouldn't starve a baby to death, would you?" But a seven-month-old baby is expected to grow up, to become someone, to contribute to the well-being of the community.
Terri has not had that capacity for fifteen years and, if medical knowledge and experience are anything to go on, Terri will never, ever have that ability again. You and I have no vested interest in what happens to Terri at this point. All we can-- and should-- do is trust our spouses, those empowered to speak for us when we can no longer speak for ourselves, to make the best choices on our behalf.
The Schindlers have invited this international voyeurism and have begged for judicial and legislative intervention into this tradition. They have allowed sentiment and deception to override a loving husband's best understanding of what his wife would want. But we should not look away from the harsh truth: Whether Terri lives or dies matters not one whit to our society anymore. But the legacy her parents leave behind will haunt us for decades to come.
There is only one group that has, more or less, ignored race, religion, culture, and language, and gleefully interacted with any shape, any color, overcoming language barriers in their pursuit of what they truly wanted. They were not philosophers, scientists, or theologians. No, the one group that really wanted to ignore the differences among men and enjoy only their commonality has been, for centuries, reviled by most right-thinking people.
They were the traders. In pursuit of profit, they ignored everything that was irrelevant to a man's character. Sometimes, this resulted in uglinesses of their own, but you can't deny that 15th century Venetians, 2nd century Romans, and 12th century Chinese merchants ignored what history and tradition said about their neighbors; they simply traded.
Traders have always been mistrusted. They violate the bonds of the tribe and override the instinct to "stick with one's own" in pursuit of something more interesting: economic power.
As unpleasant as it is to contemplate, we tribal humans have never regarded "them, over there" as useful, as worthy, as humans like us until their well-being becomes synonymous with our own, until we understand that their decline would result in our own. Once we've engaged "other people" in a non-zero-sum economic relationship, they become a part of "us." No other human institution has had the power to make us see others as equals quite the way capitalism has succeeded.
As hard and unpleasant as it is to contemplate, Terri Schiavo is no longer "one of us." One of the doctors arguing on the parent's behalf has said that Terri "has the mental capacity of a seven-month-old child, and you wouldn't starve a baby to death, would you?" But a seven-month-old baby is expected to grow up, to become someone, to contribute to the well-being of the community.
Terri has not had that capacity for fifteen years and, if medical knowledge and experience are anything to go on, Terri will never, ever have that ability again. You and I have no vested interest in what happens to Terri at this point. All we can-- and should-- do is trust our spouses, those empowered to speak for us when we can no longer speak for ourselves, to make the best choices on our behalf.
The Schindlers have invited this international voyeurism and have begged for judicial and legislative intervention into this tradition. They have allowed sentiment and deception to override a loving husband's best understanding of what his wife would want. But we should not look away from the harsh truth: Whether Terri lives or dies matters not one whit to our society anymore. But the legacy her parents leave behind will haunt us for decades to come.
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just a lame situation all around
Date: 2005-03-24 03:58 am (UTC)First, update your living wills people, or this too could happen to you.
Spouses, even estranged, having the power to overrule blood family, which is what the law intended, but as we've seen, a compelling case in the court of public opinion and religious interventionism can be made for contravening what the legal guardian is legally entitled to say.
Bottom line, do you want the courts deciding the fate of your family? If not, make sure its all legal before getting in a situation like this, or any situation -- courts make awful arbiters of family, in a lot of examples I've seen on a variety of topics.
Random comments: Doesn't she look like Christopher Pike lying there, the only thing missing is 1 beep yes and 2 beeps no. Someone should have hooked her up.
Starving to death, even for a barely cognizant brain damaged person, is a horrible way to die. If the decision was to pull the plug then the decision also should have been to euthanize humanely. We'd give a pet that option, why not a person. I know, Christian Law as applied in the Court of Public Opinion. God must be given the shot at intervening he's not taken for fifteen years now, but just might.
I really feel for the mom and dad. They just must be going through self-induced hell, but hell none the less.
Finally, why can't the husband sign over custody of her to the family? If he doesn't care if she is alive, but other people do, why can't he just be a hero and stop fighting the will of the rest of the family? It might not be what "she would have wanted," but she has no say any more, she's a brain dead barely able to smile sort of family pet at this point. I don't see his attachment to that. Let her go and the family can pay for her care now.
Of all the possible outcomes it seems this is headed for the worst for everyone. She starves to death, which is horrible. The mom and dad stand by powerless, joined by the ever growing army of onlookers, who are now helpless to step in and stop the cold horrid Liberal state. So there's political fallout.
And the husband comes off at least to me like a selfish jerk. He alone knows best whats right for the woman he was once married to.
Ah well, back to work - - thanks for letting me clutter up your journal Elf.