Charter Member of the Sub-Media

April 11, 2005

Culture of Death, Pt II « Social Issues »

After musing over this, I guess I have to admit that "Culture of Death" is as much of an emotionally-charged propaganda term as a rhetorical shorthand.

I mean, the opposite of "Culture of Death" is "Culture of Life", right? That might be a little unfair.

...except that I can't think of any other way to put it. What I'm objecting to is the thinking exemplified by a "Death is a viable solution" attitude. What I'm supporting is a "Where there is life, there is hope" attitude. My exception is I have no problem with "Do not resuscitate/no heroic measures to sustain life"...because in the case of DNR, the person actually is dead, no? And "heroic measures" are both qualitatively and quantitatively different than just a feeding tube.

So...is there a better way to put it? To discuss these disparate viewpoints without using such emotionally-charged terms?

Posted by Nathan at 11:58 AM | Comments (4)
» Accidental Verbosity links with: The Little Tiny Linkfest: Take a Deep Breath Edition
Comments

There is no term that will encapsulate every possible permutation of your idea. Definitions are shorthand and prone to inaccuracies.

It's why I shun labels of 'conservative' or 'Republican' because while some of my ideas can be considered X, I am not defined as X-inclusive. The whole "all (70°) water is a liquid, but all liquids aren't water", thing.

Posted by: Sharp as a Marble at April 11, 2005 12:17 PM

Well, at least I've acknowledged the issue.

Posted by: Nathan at April 11, 2005 12:23 PM

Culture of Dignity might be a suitable euphemism. It would encourage the use of ridicule instead of foaming at the mouth.

Posted by: Joseph Hertzlinger at April 13, 2005 11:31 PM

That's not bad, Joseph. I will probably use that one, because it does encapsulate one of the widespread points of that thought process: a life without dignity isn't worth living; or perhaps: a dignified death is worth bringing about deliberately.
Even if I don't agree, it's a term I could use.
Thanks.

Posted by: Nathan at April 14, 2005 12:11 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?