Life as Performance Art

     Back in the bad old days, suicide was a felony, a serious criminal offence with substantial penalties.  That might seem a bit odd since someone who took their own life is dead and cannot be charged with a crime. True, but the ancient Roman law had a bit of a twist to it. Committing suicide was an offense against the government; therefore, the government (particularly the emperor) had the right to confiscate the recently self-inflicted deceased’s entire estate.  Some of the truly evil emperors such as Claudius, Caligula, Nero, and a few lesser-known rulers reportedly kept a list of wealthy Romans, and their estimated wealth.
    The routine was to send out a high rankling civil official and a few soldiers, knock on the front door, and have an old-fashioned Mafia sit-down. “We’re here to make you an offer you can’t refuse.  It’s nothing personal, just business.”  The target was given a choice of being arrested, tried, and executed, or use the dagger brought by the Centurion and get it over.  The emperor confiscated the wealth.
     Our neighbors in the Great White North are just slightly more subtle. During the Great Lockdown of a few years ago they passed into law the Medical Assistance In Dying act.  Until recently, in Canada as in most of the United States, suicide was against the law. Anyone suspected of contemplating it could be taken into custody, examined, and either kept under lock and key or released. Anyone who attempted suicide but failed faced other legal challenges.
     But now, MAID makes suicide completely legal.  In fact, it appears it is encouraged, and by the government, no less.  That makes sense, in a macabre and spooky sort of way.  If the government is paying the costs of long-term medical care for someone with an incurable illness, they can reduce their expenses by encouraging the patient to agree to speed things along. Or, if it is someone with end stage dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, and there will never be any improvement in their quality of life, MAID can help reduce the “surplus population,” as Scrooge said.
       As repulsive as that might seem, I think most of us who have watched a loved one die in pain, have whispered that we would never treat a pet animal that way; that it would be animal cruelty.  Most of us, at least while we are reasonably health, have said that if ever we are in that sort of a situation that we would be grateful if someone would bribe the doctor or nurse for an extra strong dose of morphine.  Fortunately, the hospice networks in our country are magnificent in their ability to help with pain management.
    MAID has become even more “helpful.”   In the recent past, until a few years ago, it took the agreement of several physicians and other medical professions before a dying patient could be promoted to the Great Unseen Choir in the Heavens.  In the United States, several states allow assisted suicide, again with the same restrictions, but it is not always well accepted.  In fact, some American travelers going to Switzerland who don’t look like they are in good health are intensely questioned to be sure their final destination was not a suicide spa.
     Today, it is different in Canada, as anyone can walk into MAID’s offices, meet with an official, and for any reason declare that they wish to terminate their life.  That even includes being temporarily depressed or “feeling blue.”   We see other instances where medicos and social workers are rushing people, especially young people, into making life-changing decisions.  This, however, is the ultimate and permanent life-ending decision.  It is even legal for a young person to make this decision without their parent’s consent.
     It keeps getting worse.  A member of the Canadian Forces who was suffering from PTSD was gently advised that his pain would come an end if he would sign the documents from MAID.    A recent on-line article from the London Times told of a middle-aged man in Canada who was suffering from MS.  His mother had been his caretaker for many years, making it possible for him to earn a modest living as a writer.  She died, and without her, the man was given several choices:  pay well over  ten thousand dollars a month for 24/7 home care;  go into a facility;  or as the ever-so-cheerful MAID suggested,  ‘You could consent to be free from pain and suffering.’  Three choices,  but two out of the three were not viable, and the other unacceptable. You can bet the government’s bottom dollar that the policies and procedures manual instructed the merry MAID to push suicide.
      To be sure, all of this is in Canada, and it has not yet snuck across the border.  But like viruses, bad ideas do not stop at a border.  Maybe it will; maybe it will never get here.  I suspect it will, and we need to be prepared for some serious moral and ethical decisions. Traditionally, we have always believed that protecting life was important because it is a sacred gift from God.  We believed it, we said it, but we didn’t always practice it or extend it to others who did not look like us.  Only the heartless, as best portrayed by Scrooge who wanted to “decrease the surplus popular,” disagreed. In time, even he changed his views.
     I have a tremendous problem with all of this because it completely devalues human life and diminishes our sense of humanity.  It follows a three-step progression.  The first was what the Romans did when they ordered a wealthy man to commit suicide because the emperor needed his money.  For us it begins with casually accepting and tolerating suicide in a place where it does not bother us anymore.
     The second step comes with organizations like MAID who are willing to help another person end their life and make it possible for anyone to kill themselves for even the flimsiest and flippant reasons.  Or in the case of the afore-mentioned writer, give a hint that the individual should do it for the financial sake of the country.
      We do not want the third step. That is where euthanasia is mandated by the government. “Oh, you’re elderly and in poor health,” MAID tells someone.  “Your quality of life has diminished below what we have decided is an acceptable level. Further, you are no longer contributing to society. Instead, you are a drain on the public coffers.  We are going to stop your life.”
     That was the ideology of the Bavarian corporal and his minions.  I know it is not the right thing for us.