In a sense, laws are to take away some of the grayness. If I have any complaint about the last twenty years in American culture - it is the rise of anti-intellectual relativism... Another topic for another time, though.

I recently got the "chance" to execute a "living will" with my terminally ill father. He wished to die if his cancer got any worse... From a purely cynical side, the medical community kept him alive (and here's the real slippery slope from my vantage point - the perfect patient - the terminally ill, INSURED elderly patients - you can't really be sued for malpractice even if you dance on their graves...) for as long as they could. When their was no more real money to be made (cause he wasn't strong enough for any more expensive drugs/radiation), they "allowed" us to let him die.

Who in the hell are the politicians to tell me when, how, etc... I die. It's my choice. It's the one sure fucking thing we all have when we're born. The "right" to die and pay taxes...

A lot of these "slippery slopes" are so much bullshit to anyone with real personal experience. Since when has this or any other government really given a shit about the sanctity of life other than to build the standing ranks of its armies? There's some sanctity for us!

I'm writing under your post 'cause I figured you might understand what I'm talking about. Maybe Malraux too... he just seems to have worked out all of the gray areas...

and if I had put "SG" in there, it would have become obtuse... Play get R...

My father passed away in January. I've had time to reflect. The Bruce Hornsby/Don Henley song "End of the Innocence" keeps playing in the background of my thoughts...

My point was really for Marlowe, which is that there really isn't a slippery slope. There is an intellectual problem (such as the abortion issue or drugs), with determining "who decides" what's in the best interest of an individual. i.e. When a family member is dying a slow and agonizing death, that member has requested that when they can no longer take care of themselves and there is no hope for survival to have the decency and respect to euthanize them... And you can't... Your doctor or the State have the final word. Oh, you can, but you will be charged with some form of manslaughter... at least in Ohio. This issue is no slippery slope. The laws as written are wrong. Anyone who has actually dealt with this situation intuits this. If they changed these laws, I don't see how this slippery slope would lead to the wholesale slaughter of psychotics in mental instituitions, etc... If the law is worded carefully...

Beyond the hollow political rhetoric, there is a truly intellectual divergence that good folks can disagree about. I understood the points that both of you were expressing and kind of agree, at least in principal with both (other than the barbs).

The problem with many of these "topics" is "as you get older, less theory is involved and they, unfortunately, become real life experiences. In other words, theory becomes superceded in many cases. I believe that Marlowe and I are about the same age (not that that's truly pertinent in this context) and I understood what he was getting at. With Marlowe's political tirade, I have to say that I felt he quite eloquently described the frustration that he felt with the political and legal system. He went too far... He exagerrated - actually puffery is the correct term I think - and you called him out on it. To say we are a "culture of death" is a vast oversimplification and simply not true. Where is Jack Kevorkian right now? But this in no way negates a large percentage of what Marlowe was saying... now quit calling eachother names and get on with the debate.

10X the lawyers to engineers... and more lawyers in the wings. Where did you come across that stat. I'd like to use it in many of my own tirades/educational pursuits. And some people wonder why this country is the way it is...

Personal aside... The Celina Jones thing can be found in the Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life", section - "Middle Age".

to Montana soon... gonna be a mental toss flycoon.... Yippee Aye Oh Aye Ayeeeeay.

:-P