Well, Elian Gonzalez '05 is currently playing out in front of the entire nation, and this debacle has got me to thinking. Since a print-out from my website will carry a lot more weight in a court of law than a will or any of that crap, I'd like to register my own preferences here. If I'm ever in a state like that poor woman and someone gets in the way of an expedient death for me, I will devote whatever brainpower I have left to master telekinesis. And then, once I have it mastered, I will use my powers to pour the contents of my bedpan onto that person at every opportunity. The showering will become so frequent, the person will take to wearing a pancho every time he steps inside the hospital. It'll be like going to the whale tank at Sea World every time he ventures near my room. With Goulash as my witness, this is a public vow; be wary, right to lifers.
Like a lot of people, I feel pretty strongly about this issue. So strongly, in fact, that I considered sending out an email to my friends and family telling them they could pull the plug on me whatever they'd like. If I had to go in to get a mole removed, they'd be completely within their rights to storm the office, strip off the oxygen mask, and scream, "People weren't meant to live this way!" I elected not to send this ultimately, since I foresee myself going crazy one day and getting a lot of risky elective surgery. If I decide to have a tusk mounted on my face, I'm pretty sure I'll want to live long enough so I can wake up and admire it. You would definitely get haunted if you pulled the plug on me in that situation. So, I nixed the email, but I'm not done with this idea yet.
It's a very touchy issue, and both sides make valid points. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but applaud when I stumbled upon the anonymous comment left on Plastic today:
We need to pass a new law that limits the role of the federal government. It needs to list the powers that the federal government has and reserve the rest to the states and the people themselves. Then we need all politicians to swear an oath to obey this law and defend such a law from those who would abuse it. I know it sounds insane, but if we all band together and get behind some activist judges, maybe we can make such a crazy concept happen some day.Posted by Cody at March 21, 2005 6:41 PM