One
of the many fashionable notions that have caught on among some of the
intelligentsia is that old people have "a duty to die," rather than
become a burden to others.
This is more than just an idea discussed around a seminar table. Already
the government-run medical system in Britain is restricting what
medications or treatments it will authorize for the elderly. Moreover,
it seems almost certain that similar attempts to contain runaway costs
will lead to similar policies when American medical care is taken over
by the government.
Make no
mistake about it: letting old people die is a lot cheaper than spending
the kind of money required to keep them alive and well. If a
government-run medical system is going to save any serious amount of
money, it is almost certain to do so by sacrificing the elderly.
There was a time — fortunately, now long past — when some desperately
poor societies had to abandon old people to their fate, because there
was just not enough margin for everyone to survive. Sometimes the
elderly themselves would simply go off from their family and community
to face their fate alone.
