It's a thorny issue - elder rights to privacy and autonomy versus getting in their business and taking care of them. The son could have called in someone with authority I guess - and probably should have. Still, I imagine it was a tough call.
Have you read Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?" Ever since I read it a couple of months ago I've been turning over the fact that apparently in some countries the state will just step in and take over a person's life for reasons less than being a danger to themselves of someone else. Whatshername, the girl, could handle her life fine, just differently, but the state took complete control over her finances. In theory it might be a nice idea - people who can't take care of themselves should be taken care of - but in practice, ugh - so many things wrong.
I have not read it - but weirdly someone was just telling me I need to see the film. lthough *how* exactly -- maybe Rocket has it.
I would go simpler - I think public utilities should be prevented from shutting off in winter. Period. If the subscriber is elderly or there are children, then the late/non payment should be forwarded to a social service agency and do a homecheck. And yes, things can go wrong - they go wrong in either direction. If I have to chose between lesser wrong, I'll pick the state stepping in and controlling my finances any day over freezing to death.
I agree that utilities shouldn't be shut off in winter. My husband told me once that when he lived in Fargo, the local law was that landlords had to include heat in the price of rent or they couldn't rent a place. One way of approaching the problem - at least with renters.
I'm not sure that I would pick erring on the side of state intervention over neglect. I might just be getting old, cranky and libertarian though. What's that old saying? If you're not liberal when you're young you have no heart, if you're not conservative when you're middle aged you have no brain ... if you're not libertarian when you're old you haven't dealt with the DMV/public schools/etc enough? ; )
I have real issues with libertarianism - but like a good former bartender I avoid topics of politics and religion ;)
I do think the bureaucracy in the US is worse than say Holland. Which is ODD because we have that socialist *horror* nanny government that everyone is so terrified of. But somehow it's easier to navigate. Case in point - I *still* don't have a parking permit on my car. I have been to the office 4 times with various documents - but somehow never the right ones, and the clerks can never tell me what the right ones are. My dutch documents were mailed to me "because you'll need these". It is attitude as much as red tape.
It's hard to know what to do in situations like these. I don't even know what to think about the balance between the two extremes, except to say that there ought to be one.
She had family and it still happened. Wow. They're all saying that she wouldn't let them help her, but I think at a certain point you just can't take no for an answer. When I was an EMT we did have people with severe trauma tell us they were OK and didn't need to go to the hospital. Usually telling them the risk of not going--paralyzation and/or death. Got them to go. Twice we had to wait for someone to just pass out and loaded then we took them in. Someone should have been paying more attention to this woman on a daily basis.
Seems I'm at odds with everybody else here in this, but when my time comes this is exactly how I would like to die myself - entirely alone in my home, or even better all alone in the wilds somewhere, with nobody around and nobody fussing over me. I don't fear that at all, whereas I have a horror of at any point losing either my autonomy or my solitude and I know I don't want anyone holding my hand when I go. From that article, it sounds at least possible that this woman arranged her life quite consciously and deliberately in such a way that this might well happen to her, as I intend to do and even am already doing to some extent. I saw people die in various ways at quite a young age, so it's something I've certainly considered over many years. I guess all I'm saying is that people are different, and this isn't everybody's idea of a particularly sad or bad end.
Comments 13
Reply
Reply
Have you read Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo?" Ever since I read it a couple of months ago I've been turning over the fact that apparently in some countries the state will just step in and take over a person's life for reasons less than being a danger to themselves of someone else. Whatshername, the girl, could handle her life fine, just differently, but the state took complete control over her finances. In theory it might be a nice idea - people who can't take care of themselves should be taken care of - but in practice, ugh - so many things wrong.
Reply
I would go simpler - I think public utilities should be prevented from shutting off in winter. Period. If the subscriber is elderly or there are children, then the late/non payment should be forwarded to a social service agency and do a homecheck. And yes, things can go wrong - they go wrong in either direction. If I have to chose between lesser wrong, I'll pick the state stepping in and controlling my finances any day over freezing to death.
Reply
I'm not sure that I would pick erring on the side of state intervention over neglect. I might just be getting old, cranky and libertarian though. What's that old saying? If you're not liberal when you're young you have no heart, if you're not conservative when you're middle aged you have no brain ... if you're not libertarian when you're old you haven't dealt with the DMV/public schools/etc enough? ; )
Reply
I do think the bureaucracy in the US is worse than say Holland. Which is ODD because we have that socialist *horror* nanny government that everyone is so terrified of. But somehow it's easier to navigate. Case in point - I *still* don't have a parking permit on my car. I have been to the office 4 times with various documents - but somehow never the right ones, and the clerks can never tell me what the right ones are. My dutch documents were mailed to me "because you'll need these". It is attitude as much as red tape.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment