The women's movement brought us choice. Whether we like it or not abortion is here to stay. If there is choice over a fetus which has a life ahead of it, then there should be choice over one's own life. It's not about clubbing people to death or killing seniors in nursing homes. It is about dying with dignity, with choice. For those who want to go on living no matter their condition I say Fine. We are wealthy enough as a society to do this.
As the boomers hit the wall I think there will be a lot more opting to exit on their own terms and not hooked up to a spaghetti of tubes in a hospital somewhere (the state will benignly encourage this as it will ease the health care burden and allow those who have time ahead of them to receive medical care) Arthur From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 2:28 AM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; Arthur Cordell Subject: Re: [Futurework] Here's to mental health at 90! Arthur, Over here the idea of euthanasia is proceeding far faster than I would have expected even as recently as a year or two ago. My partner and I have both signed a legal Advance Notices (requesting non-resuscitation in case of severe debilitation, etc), and there are increasing numbers of press stories about individuals (usually the totally paralysed with locked-in minds who can only communicate by blinking) who want to be sent on their way, retired doctors who confess to mercy killings when they practised, and there's a growing stream of people leaving for the clinic in Switzerland that does this thing. I think that well within 20 years -- when there'll be huge numbers of the old -- we'll see voluntary euthanasia on a large scale. I think we'll start to see a lot more involuntary euthanasia than already goes on in our nursing homes. My guess is that, already, hundreds, if not thousands, of cases go on every year that are never revealed. As recently as 200 years ago when Scandinavian families in the far north had had a bad summer and insufficient food to see them through the winter if they had an aged parent on board, they would hold a ceremony (usually on a particular family rock) whereby the ancient was clubbed to death (with their permission). Once we get this Christian thing about souls and so forth out of our head then euthanasia of anybody who's become a severe economic drain will become culturally acceptable. It will take generations but, I think, inevitable. It seems terribly shocking to us now but it will be normal then. Keith At 10:10 20/07/2010 -0400, you wrote: Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_002B_01CB27F3.C62B6520" Content-Language: en-us I will go along with all that you suggest as long as you go along with those who want greater choice over their life. As a long time supporter of Dying With Dignity I wonder how you feel about such an approach to end of life choices. http://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/ arthur From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Darryl or Natalia Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 8:03 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] Here's to mental health at 90! That lovely lady's body would be suffering all the more if not for her wise active mind. She's fortunate to have put it to good use to eventually ease the transition to the next life. Do you ever wonder how much easier this transition from active mind to frailty to physical death would be if people could learn to accept altered states as a natural function of their time on Earth? If they had a shaman, spiritual or psychotherapist guide them through these changes, is it possible they could unravel some buried stuff and sojourn into new realms with dignity in tact rather than be branded with senility? As I glance at a list of Salish spirit quest altered states of consciousness symptoms, described by Ludwig in the context of trance and possession, 1968, I start to wonder: 1) alterations in thinking; including predominance of archaic modes of thought, blurring of cause effect distinction, cognitive ambivalence 2) disturbed time sense 3) loss of conscious control and inhibition which may be relinquished in order to gain a greater, culturally defined power 4) change in emotional expression towards affective extremes ranging from ecstasy to profound fear 5) body image changes; feelings of depersonalization, derealization, dissolution of boundaries between self and environment, often associated with dizziness, weakness, blurred vision and analgesia 6) perceptual distortions,; hallucinations, illusions, visual imagery, hyper-acuteness of perceptions, synaesthetic experiences 7) change in meaning; attachment of increased or specific significance to subjective experience or external cues, leading to thrilling feelings of insight, and revelation of "truth" which then carries an unshakable conviction 8) sense of ineffable; the essence of the personal experience is felt not to be directly communicable; and this is often explained by varying degrees of amnesia 9) feelings of rejuvenation; of renewed hope or of rebirth 10) hyper-suggestibility: a propensity to accept, or to respond uncritically to statements of an authority figure via identification, or to cultural and group expectations. Imagine walking someone through the first parts to have them weave through the latter--without the feelings of grief and loss over ego self. Picture them being with someone who knew what to watch for, and who could interpret what was seen or felt, without being overbearing or subjective. Western culture would call these altered states psychogenic, most often observed in hypnosis, religious revelation or hysterical dissociation. Christians call it something else (like demonic possession), and yet differences are about cultural rather than psychological or neurophysiological states. But the term 'trance' designates a state of double consciousness, between limiting state of awareness of personal self and dream-like state of the para-personal self. The "neuropsychological basis of the trance or possession state is the dissociation of the self, which loses its experiential unity and is converted into a secondary dual system of relational experience." This "capacity to attain altered states of consciousness are a universal property of the human central nervous system, but their prevalence is the function of socio-cultural variables" says Wolfgang G. Jilek, M.D., author of Indian Healing, Shamanic Ceremonialism in the Pacific Northwest Today. There may be a reason, a personal motivation for induction of these states by seniors, and we're dismissing/misdiagnosing their landmark passage as signs of demise. I've long suspected that a lot of what's going on with cognitive impairment has to do with mind taking a trek/break from chiefly psychological pain and restraints. I suspect that at the first signs of it, people ignore the warnings to search for peace within. Seniors generally will become frightened and seek out allopathic remedies, which may or may not be the answer. In my observations, this usually marks the beginning of the end because the drugs are so harmful, and require other drugs to alleviate the adverse effects. Then, it's diarrhea city. Every elderly patient I've observed, be it with Alzheimer's or depression, post-stroke or what have you, has been bombarded with mind numbing anti-depressants or systems depressants that typically lead to hip fractures/falls that wouldn't likely have happened had the patient stayed home, got meals delivered, and were allowed time to work it out themselves or with some nursing or counseling. Sure, you have those who might set the house on fire, but I'll bet they are more in the numbers of those who are iatrogenic victims than not. I've wondered how much rigidity and such things as giving away one's personal power over time have to do with later brain impairment or demise. Usually permanent physical condition arises out of a predisposition for it, yet it's always different with each patient. But if that person had been able to know themselves, others and their world better in a more connected or fulfilling light, would it have been easier for them? There's often a pattern of a major resentment or trauma that should have been addressed. Blockages that can cause very real symptoms that can all too easily easily be assigned a clinical name. And once they hand over their own well being to the care of others and pharmaceuticals, they may never learn that looking at life differently will yield different results. They've never been taught the tools, or the resources in naturopathic remedies, and though spirituality might take them there, their steady diet of religion or resentment thereof fails to direct them. I believe religions should be taught in school. All religions and spiritual beliefs, so that people would know choice. Biggest thing going, along with science and technology, and kids are forced to learn dogma from within limiting parental purlieus, or worse still, from a religious school they may be attending. Atheism should also be taught, not just left fore kids to adopt without knowing the theory. We all have to dream and experience freedom for our mind's well-being. In material life, immediate gratification without consequences would obviously lead to miscreant actions. Aside from all of the physiological documented evidence one could present, I suspect night dreams are the mind's coping strategy for daytime maintenance of high energy, low frequency physicality. If we didn't have the escape from the physical on a (preferably) nocturnal basis, our minds would go nuts from chronic imagined imprisonment--not so much physical but psychical. In aging, our dream recall tends to diminish, resulting in less conscious processing of subconscious experience. People with vivid recall don't seem to experience this lessening, but they may become victims of their own fear-based interpretations as the line between conscious and subconscious crosses or merges. Most psychologists could help these people to some extent, but getting the help they need in time never happens. Just thoughts. Not professional. What do you think? Natalia Ray Harrell wrote: I have to go visit a 90 year old Jewish lady whose brain is not downsized. Its just her body. What a waste. Hey Natalia, I was sad before I went. She is bright and worked full time up until she was 88. She raised a daughter on her own. The daughter became so self reliant that in her late teens she hiked all over Europe and a lot of Asia, was a member of the Bread and Puppet Theater and worked through college to a PHD in Social Work. She rescued a couple of Indian children from the wars in Central America and raised them as a single mother. Because they are Indian she brought them to our community and participated with them in our ceremonials and rituals. Meanwhile she is known as an angel to the police because she would step right in front of a policemans gun to protect a child in a drug dealers apartment. She is now retired but has gone back to school and is continuing to do her profession privately. What an amazing little woman with an amazing mother who smiled a huge smile and spoke beautifully with a mind that speaks for someone much younger than her 90+ years. So much knowledge in so frail a body. It was a gift to me today. Thank you Miriam, Wado Edoda. REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Gurstein Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 1:50 PM To: 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION' Subject: [Futurework] FW: [p2p-research] newsweek on The Creativity Crisis -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michel Bauwens Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 4:03 PM To: Peer-To-Peer Research List Cc: [email protected] Subject: [p2p-research] newsweek on The Creativity Crisis http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens Think tank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework --- avast! 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