He'd "feel bad" if the government paid for elderly peoples' medical care.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/22/elderly-hurry-up-die-japanese
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/22/elderly-hurry-up-die-japanese
To be fair, it is an insightful perspective into Japan's growing generation gap.
In many ways, Japan is still recovering from WWII, and its declining birth rate on top of that means there's a uniquely huge cultural and age gap between the older generation and the younger generation in what has historically been a very homogenous country.
When he says he would "feel bad," I think he means that if he was in that situation, himself. He clarified that he was speaking about end of life medical care. Not so outrageous, imo."Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government," he said during a meeting of the national council on social security reforms. "The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die."
"I see people aged 67 or 68 at class reunions who dodder around and are constantly going to the doctor," he said at a meeting of economists. "Why should I have to pay for people who just eat and drink and make no effort? I walk every day and do other things, but I'm paying more in taxes."
Hey, 72's not nearly as old as I once thought it was. Lighten up.Dude's 72. He should lead by example.
Yep. Fifty or sixty years ago I would have agreed with the guy.Hey, 72's not nearly as old as I once thought it was. Lighten up.
Beyond the 'welfare state' argument that this is, there is a real question about "quantity vs. quality" of life, I think. I'm one of those who would rather be able to "step off' at some point.
My biggest fear is that I will in some way be physically or cognitively debilitated to the point that I won't be able to make that decision when the time comes.
Bennett The Sage made an interesting connection with Grave of the Fireflies to the generation gap.Yeah...
It took me someone pointing this out for me to "get" films like Akira.
I don't suppose any of our members who live or have lived in Japan can comment on the growing generation gap issue the country is facing? It seems like understanding the cultural issues at play here would be pretty important in understanding the perspective in this story.
The imbalance has been used as a plot device in anime for years. I'm remembering specifically a couple of Ghost in the Shell episodes, where the elderly 'adopt' orphan children, or rely on robot care.
However, overtime is common and expected, and it's considered a bad thing to leave early, to the point that in a lot of places you don't leave before your superiors, even if your work is done. Husbands often work until nine or ten, then go out and have drinks, and don't return home until late. They get up at five or six in the morning and do it again.
That means wives are left to fend for raising children increasingly on their own, and often feel like single mothers. They often don't want to have more children because they know they'll be doing much of the child-rearing and household work on their own.
There's been a push to try to limit work hours and overtime to help this situation, but what happens is they'll declare that work ends at a certain time and people just stay late anyway.
Yeah.... this shows the benefit of actually reading the article.
I pretty much agree with him. You should be allowed to die when you're ready to go.
I hope I die like my grandmother did. In her own bed, surrounded by family.
If not, then I just want it to be quick.