Survival of the Fittest PLC (formerly the United Kingdom)

[Guest]

Is this man the most selfish and dangerous individual in Britain today? -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/jun/26/bbc-john-simpson-euthanasia-pensioners

Ministers announce imminent state authorisation of murder by shaking -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18745217

[MrGongGong]

We are, of course, temporarily "able bodied" anyway

[amateur51]

We are, of course, temporarily "able bodied" anyway

[aeolium]

Is this man the most selfish and dangerous individual in Britain today? -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-rad...sia-pensioners

No.

[Lateralthinking1]

No.

Really? A man fathers a child in his sixties with big thoughts about his own health and longevity.

It appears that rather than thinking sensibly that he might to live to an average good age and be a father to the child until he is an adult, he anticipates becoming ill far earlier but only after the conception. The illness which doesn't even exist is then over-dramatically depicted as one in which he could be wholly reliant on others.

He then races to the media to say that he would do himself in if it came to that sort of ending, thereby risking making many over the age of 67 feel guilty and anxious with thoughts about whether they should contemplate something similar.

I regard him as a dangerous menace. Some would say that he has made his money out of being not much more than a voyeur of agony and grief. Perhaps he is trying to justify his absences from his daughters when they were growing up. That certainly doesn't do anything for those trying to defend social services in this country. Arguably his self-important work has addled his brain.

[teamsaint]

the big publicity almost always seems to go to those who want people (themselves or others), finished off before they become too expensive.
Seems that way to me, anyway.

[aeolium]

the big publicity almost always seems to go to those who want people (themselves or others), finished off before they become too expensive.
Seems that way to me, anyway.

Actually, that wasn't the case at all with John Simpson - there was no question of expense being the issue, and he specifically said he was not speaking about a course of action for anyone other than himself, and if you had watched the programmes you would have seen his strong support for the work of the social services.

It really does seem as though people have lost all sense of proportion when they accuse a BBC journalist, and one who has operated in very dangerous environments to provide information, of being the most selfish and dangerous person in Britain

[teamsaint]

Actually, that wasn't the case at all with John Simpson - there was no question of expense being the issue, and he specifically said he was not speaking about a course of action for anyone other than himself, and if you had watched the programmes you would have seen his strong support for the work of the social services.

It really does seem as though people have lost all sense of proportion when they accuse a BBC journalist, and one who has operated in very dangerous environments to provide information, of being the most selfish and dangerous person in Britain

well I certainly agree about Simpson not being the most dangerous man in Britain.However, he is respected and influential, and even he could be used by those with agendas....slippery slopes, thin ends of wedges etc.

[Anna]

well I certainly agree about Simpson not being the most dangerous man in Britain.However, he is respected and influential, and even he could be used by those with agendas....

He did say ""I'm not advocating [euthanasia] for anyone else. But just in my own case, I don't want my own six-year-old son to have his main memories of me as a gibbering, sad old freak" and I wonder if in filming the programme this was the first time he'd encountered elderly people with dementia and other age related health problems which, I guess can be a great shock, forcing you to look at how your own later years may pan out? Certainly, although I only saw one episode, it scared the hell out of me and so I think his reaction is perfectly normal. Lat's other point about having children so late in life is another issue, of possibly not being alive to see your children grow to adulthood and therefore being selfish by bringing them into the world.

[MrGongGong]

I for one am sick and tired of this not so "behind the scenes" campaign to allow doctors to murder their patients, which is alluded to here

the amount of mis information and simply untrue nonsense that one finds in the media is deeply insulting to many of my friends and colleagues
if we see profoundly disabled people only in terms of being either tragic heroes who can be professors of theoretical physics or sad people who want to end their lives then we create no space at all for anything else. Many disabled young people are feeling that they have become a "burden" to their families and society and the rhetoric around the issues of old age (coupled with the shameful way in which our "leaders" are scapegoating the most vulnerable) is one of the main reasons why this is happening...........

[Lateralthinking1]

Anna - I don't have a problem at all with very old parents of young children in principle. Not one jot.

However, with his kind of negativity, I think it was completely the wrong thing to have a child.

He should stop making programmes frightening people, retire, cease focussing on himself and learn to stay at home being a father to his offspring for once. - Lat.

[Resurrection Man]

Actually, that wasn't the case at all with John Simpson - there was no question of expense being the issue, and he specifically said he was not speaking about a course of action for anyone other than himself, and if you had watched the programmes you would have seen his strong support for the work of the social services.

It really does seem as though people have lost all sense of proportion when they accuse a BBC journalist, and one who has operated in very dangerous environments to provide information, of being the most selfish and dangerous person in Britain

Well said. I agree with you 100% and cannot think of a more pointless thread for a long time.

[Resurrection Man]

I for one am sick and tired of this not so "behind the scenes" campaign to allow doctors to murder their patients, which is alluded to here

....

What campaign? What do you mean by 'murder their patients'? Has Shipman escaped from gaol?

[amateur51]

Well said. I agree with you 100% and cannot think of a more pointless thread for a long time.

Too modest, RM! - your Too much piano? over on CD Review was quite a doozy in the pointless stakes, imho

[MrGongGong]

What campaign? What do you mean by 'murder their patients'? Has Shipman escaped from gaol?

Well , I always understood "murder" to mean killing your own species
it seems to be the accepted "morality" that somehow becoming disabled is intolerable and doctors should be allowed to give us a bit of "help" ........