I agree there is "little left to say" Excellent expositions of all the aspects. And the general would appear to be along the lines of 80% in favour of changing the laws, it is supposed to be in the general population. But nothing in any post about how we get the law changed so it reflects these views. Any suggestions?

I am proposing to write to each candidate standing in my electorate for the next election asking for confirmation that,if elected, they will vote "for" any bill legalizing euthanasia. I am also asking whether they vote in parliament on any particular bill at the instructions of their party whips, or the views of their constituents (if they know it) or on their personal oopinion. This letter and their replies will be forwarded to the local media.

If this idea receives general acceptance, it might have some effect - what does everyone think

It might work Dicky and is definitely worth a try.
Personally, I see only two other options
1- vote only for a party/independent member that clearly has a pro-euthanasia policy- and instruct everyone around the country to do the same
2- the only other way other politicians would ever touch the issue would be for their opinion polls to go down and needing a cause to reverse them, promise to change the law on euthanasia- of course, everyone would have to do a good job of pretending they totally WOULD vote for them- the problem is, Liberal and LAbor rely too much on the mouth-frothing neocon vote to dare defy them- and both make it clear that the religious person's views are more important than anyone else's by the sheer time they put into proving their "Christian" credentials and focusing so much on that subcommunity (ignoring the majority of this community is SECULAR and thus ignored).

Loudmouth & Fester. (heheh sounds like a disease instead of monikers)

Two Words

LIVING WILL

"A living will is a legal document that a person uses to make known his or her wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatments. It can also be referred to as an advance directive, health care directive, or a physician's directive. A living will should not be confused with a living trust, which is a mechanism for holding and distributing a person's assets to avoid probate. It is important to have a living will as it informs your health care providers and your family about your desires for medical treatment in the event you are not able to speak for yourself."

http://www.alllaw.com/articles/wills_and_trusts/article7.asp

Dickybird

Election time is the very best time to campaign for euthanasia. In addition I will write to Get-up - and my local pollies.

Cheers

Severin,

Then in the absence of a living will, I hope that we never see the phrases 'advanced Alzheimer's' and 'euthanasia' in the same sentence ? Or ever again on the same OLO thread ?

With a euthanasia bill imminent in all states if the WA one passes, I'm starting to think I will need to sign an affidavit to set out clearly and definitely that I do NOT want to be put down - by all means, turn off the machines and give me the morphine if I can't take the pain, but otherwise I want to be as much of a PITA (i.e. an inconvenient nuisance) to relatives and palliative staff as possible.

Joe Lane

Dear Squeers,

You're right, and you're wrong. Capitalism does depend on growth, and the engine of growth has moved off shore. That's only part of the problem. As long as we have industrialised society under our present ethos whether the corporations are socialised and owned by the state or privately owned makes no difference at all. It is an illusion that it makes a difference. The Marxist countries were also digging bloody big holes in the ground and exploiting the third world. The fault is the present organisation of industrialised societies, and it does not matter whether they are capitalist or not. Socialist societies also operate on the basis of growth and accumulation of capital.

Capitalism and socialism pollute. The environmental destruction in the late Soviet Union was horrible. The Caspian Sea is drying up. The Siberian tiger is an endangered species. They created a dust bowl similar to the one in the US in the thirties.

Whether production is for use or for profit doesn't matter. The machine grinds away causing environmental destruction, alienation and conflict.

The problem is not capitalism. It is corporatism. The machine grinds away. The juggernaut destroys. Industrial society is centred on production. Nature, human feeling and all other considerations are secondary to production. Whoever owns the means of production or how it is controlled are not the prime consideration. Capitalism and socialism are two forms of the juggernaut. We may have a democratic or an authoritarian socialism. It doesn't matter. The democratic form is less harmful, but the machine grinds on pulverising humanity. We can't go back to Arcadia either. Maybe we should start a new thread and consider the topic.

The DO SO Loudmouth- sheesh.
It's almost like you're asking permission, or you need some instruction to conduct yourself.

I personally will arrange in such circumstances to be euthanized before I reach that point of alzheimers, and will be sure that the doctors WILL euthanize me if I fail to die before then if those are the circumstances.
It's called SAYING what you want and planning.
Not just "oh the doctors will try to guess"- give them a plan, or will, or declaration.

It's as silly as saying we should ban wills because naughty relatives will try to coerce us into diverting it to them, and if we don't express our will it would be put to someone else to decide how it is diverted.

This sounds more like fear of the unknown to me.