Posts by BenWilson
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But, Andin, that's the point. You won't know until you're there!
Yup, I think Occam's razor is taken too far. Just because you don't, and can't possibly, know about something, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's just not a subject of scientific inquiry. It can only be speculated about.
But personally, my bet is on death being exactly as it seems from the outside - a ceasing to be, the disappearance of consciousness, rather like deep dreamless sleep with no waking. I expect I'll find out one day.
Edit: As will all of you. If you really exist - another great mystery, but one there is no way at all of knowing the answer to. Again, just because I can't possibly know, doesn't mean there isn't an answer, though.
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Is there any question that keeping a cat or a dog for food would be incredibly inefficient? Even keeping actual stock isn't that sensible, unless you're a farmer.
Hell, even fishing is inefficient, and you don't even have to grow the fish. Cats and dogs and fishing aren't about the money.
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I would like to be able to make that decision when it suits me, and not have medical staff trying to keep me alive in whatever state until my body gives up.
It's funny, nearly everyone I've ever spoken to about this feels the same way. But it's not a debate that's ever gone public in NZ, that I'm aware of. Too many taboos around it.
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Heh, I heard you also demolished an outhouse, Steve :-) I've been accused of the same thing, but never literally!
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Ditto. I love life, but have no wish whatsoever to live into dotage.
Therein lies the dilemma - it's when we slip into dotage that we lose the power to make such choices. Catch 22. Life is full of them.
I agree, generally. I'd rather go fast. But then again, we only have one life that we can be sure of. When the time comes, most people seem to want every last breath. Would the world ever seem so beautiful as when you knew it was your last moment? Great pain would surely lessen this appreciation, but even pain is a confirmation of life. It's a mystery and I doubt many people can really foretell their reactions.
I think you’ll find something along these lines is already in place. If my experience with my Grandmother is typical.
Mine too. I don't know the exact details, but it seems like a very practical solution.
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Blame aside, they (we?) have had a rather longer run at the top than previous generations, and possibly those now taking their places.
Could be, definitely the average lifespan increased a lot. But I think that the long run of the baby boomers is still trumped by the colossal fuck-ups of the two previous generations, with the war to end all war, the peace to end all peace, the depression, and then the real war to end all (world) war. Big ups for defeating fascism, but it was pretty touch and go, and it should never have got that bad.
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Might see you on the beach. Looks like a beautiful day for it.
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Something just occurred to me - the fact that baby boomers are copping so much crap recently is a sign that their hold on power if slipping. And one of the first things you do when you take power is to blame everything on your predecessor. Blaming them for looming crises etc is the perfect way of copping out of responsibility now.
To some extent my generation bears responsibility for the same crises. So what if property has gone nuts? We don't have to own it, there are affordable investments we could have instead. The expectation to make money from property comes partially from a sense of entitlement. I don't think the boomer generation were expecting what happened, their obsession with property came from their parents who had lived through the depression, and actually experienced or seen homelessness. Also, having a roof over your head was a much bigger proportion of the basic comforts expected in times past, whereas now we expect a lot more than that.
Also, I haven't really heard legions of X-Generationers or beyond demanding a return to 66% tax. If that happened, my income would halve, and I'd have to sell my house immediately to be able to afford to live.
The blame game isn't really helpful - I see it being lined up as an excuse to cut pensions. That might be necessary, but I don't think it's helpful to add a "moral" dimension to it, as though somehow it's baby boomer's chickens coming home to roost.
I do, however, think there's nothing wrong with the use of all that property to pay for aged medical care. If the state takes a lien out against their property, it's means the kids inherit less, sure, but that's vastly preferable, IMHO, to the kids being required to shell out of their own pockets or taxes for that care. If there is no property, then a welfare state should look after those oldies who've really got nothing.
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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Sacha,
And it means hearing people of a certain age banging on compulsively about certain popular activities and topics.
That's definitely not unique to boomers. I just happen to come from the generation below, so have had to put up with a lot of it from them, but they copped it from their parents, and my kids are definitely going to hear about my interests.
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I didn't intend a rag session on baby boomers when I said they might have liked some films I didn't, way back when Once Were Warriors came out. I guess some rags just have to come out. There's only been like 5 threads in 3 weeks....rags will find the flimsiest excuse.
But that's part of the charm of PAS, it's conversational. Strictly on-topic threads get pretty stale pretty fast.
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