Accepting the inevitable

Ronnie Bennet at Time Goes By has some interesting posts, and she had one a while back that was titled, “Being 97” in which a 97-year-old philosopher looks at his own death in an 18-minute video created by his grandson. In the video clip he says “So, I just go on existing until it is time to say goodbye.” 

This was a dramatic revision of his thinking in the 1990s. In his 1996 book about death, Herbert Fingarette argued that fearing one’s own demise was irrational. When you die, he wrote, “there is nothing.” Why should we fear the absence of being when we won’t be there ourselves to suffer it?

Twenty years later, facing his own mortality, the philosopher realized that he’d been wrong. Death began to frighten him, and he couldn’t think himself out of it. Fingarette, who for 40 years taught philosophy at the University of California at Santa Barbara, had also written extensively on self-deception. Now, at 97, he wondered whether he’d been deceiving himself about the meaning of life and death.

“It haunts me, the idea of dying soon, whether there’s a good reason or not,” he says in his grandson’s short documentary Being 97. “I walk around often and ask myself, ‘What is the point of it all?’ There must be something I’m missing. I wish I knew.”

The day before he died in 2018, Fingarette uttered his final words. After spending many hours in silence with his eyes closed, His grandson said, his grandfather suddenly looked up and said, “Well, that’s clear enough!” A few hours later he said, “Why don’t we see if we can go up and check it out?”

“Of course, these cryptic messages are up to interpretation,” his grandson said, “but I’d like to believe that he might have seen at least a glimpse of something beyond death.”

In the film, Fingarette admits that there “isn’t any good answer” to the “foolish question” of understanding mortality. “The answer might be … the silent answer.”

Being 97 is a moving film that explores the reflection that happens as we age, and the struggle of accepting the inevitable. His grandson quietly observes the things that have come to define his grandfather’s existence: the stillness of time, the loss of ability, and the need to come to terms with asking for help. “It’s very difficult for people who have not reached a state of old age to understand the psychology of it, what is going on in a person,” Fingarette says.

Do we or should we retire earlier than our parents did?

From the late 1970s until the mid-1990’s people were retiring earlier than the mandatory retirement age, in most countries. However according to a report by the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 2011, (“Trends in Retirement and in Working at Older Ages”, in Pensions at a Glance 2011: Retirement-income Systems in OECD and G20 Countries, OECD Publishing, Paris.) this trend shifted

There was a strong trend to early retirement throughout the 1970s and 1980s. However, this came to an end in the mid-1990s, and during the 2000s, the proportion of 50-64 years old’s participating in the labour market started to creep

The long-term trend to earlier retirement came to an end for men in the mid-1990s and for women, slightly later. The average age of retirement was broadly constant for a few years, but there has been a noticeable trend to later retirement starting in the late ’90s.

The economic turndown of 2007 to 2009 did not affect older workers as much as was expected.  This contrasts with previous recessions, where older workers were often the first to lose their jobs and found it hardest to find new employment. The proportion of 55-64-year-olds in employment was constant between 2007 and 2009, compared with a decline of 1.7 percentage points in the share of 25-54-year-olds with jobs and 3.6 points for 20-24-year-olds. The proportion of 65-69-year-olds in employment, in fact, increased a little, from 21.1% in 2007 to 22.0% in 2009.

As Governments’ move to deal with the “retirement crises” they believe they are about to face, it is important to think about the fact that their long-term projections for public spending on pensions are based on the assumption that people will retire later, not earlier, in the future.

The average age of labour-retirement men in OECD countries is 63.5 on the latest estimates and for women, it is 62.3. If life expectancy continues to increase, as most forecasts show, then significant increases in the effective retirement age are required to maintain control of the cost of pensions. In 2050, only an effective retirement age of 66.6 for men and 65.8 for women would leave the duration of retirement at the same level as it is now (based on the United Nations population projections).

Studies of governments’ long-term projections of the finance of the pension system show that these are highly dependent on further increases in participation rates at older ages and effective retirement ages. The policies that governments can pursue to extend working lives twofold, the first is by providing and presenting information on incentives to work or penalties for retiring early and to embedded these in the pension system. The second looks at what the government can do on the “demand-side”, examining ways of ensuring that there are jobs for older workers.

Can farts spread COVID-19?

Don't laugh. I almost did but it's not necessarily a joke. As the Global Times reported: 

”In a lengthy and seemingly humorous yet serious article on its WeChat account, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Tongzhou district in Beijing clarified that farts, normally, do not constitute another transmission route of COVID-19, unless someone takes a good and rather close sniff of gas from a pantless patient.”

Earlier this year, a Beijing district office for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that pants should be an effective barrier against farts that might carry the novel coronavirus. So to avoid spreading COVID-19, practice responsible social distancing—and avoid farting naked around other people. Which is honestly a good rule of etiquette for life in general.

So as long as someone farting is wearing pants, there is no danger of transmitting the COVID-19, they say. I'm pretty sure this is not a joke. More at Mental Floss and Global Times.

My thanks to Ronnie at Time goes Bye for this

Medical Assistance in Dying

I had a cousin who chose to seek medical assistance when she was dying. A friend of mine had his wife seek medical assistance when she was very sick and another friend whose husband wanted to die at home. The idea of seeking medical assistance is a very sensitive and controversial topic. Right now, the Government of Canada has launched an online public consultation aimed at obtaining Canadian's views on amending the federal medical assistance in dying legislation. Canadians and interested stakeholders are invited to share their views online until January 27, 2020. So if you want more information and would like to make your views known go to the link and let the government know your views. The following is from the public consultation page, that gives very good information along with more links to other sites and agencies that can help. 
Who can provide medical assistance in dying and who can help. Those who can provide medical assistance in dying services are:

• physicians
• nurse practitioners (in provinces where this is allowed)

Those who can help provide medical assistance in dying include:

• pharmacists
• family members or other people that you ask to help
• health care providers who help physicians or nurse practitioners

These people can assist in the process without being charged under criminal law. However, physicians, nurse practitioners and other people who are directly involved must follow:

• the rules set out in the Criminal Code
• applicable provincial and territorial health-related laws, rules and policies

Protecting the right of providers to act according to their beliefs and values

Not all health care providers will be comfortable with medical assistance in dying. The federal practice may not be consistent with a provider's beliefs and values. The federal legislation does not force any person to provide or help to provide medical assistance in dying.

Provincial and territorial governments have the responsibility for determining how and where health care services are provided. They may also make policies around where medical assistance in dying can take place as long as they do not conflict with the Criminal Code.

Supporting access for patients seeking medical assistance in dying

We understand that these provider rights could create problems for patients who want to access medical assistance in dying. Most provinces and territories have developed care coordination systems to help patients learn more about this service.

Available Options

There are 2 types of medical assistance in dying available to Canadians. They each must include a physician or nurse practitioner who:

• directly administers a substance that causes death, such as an injection of a drug
  • this is becoming known as clinician-administered medical assistance in dying
  • it was previously known as voluntary euthanasia

or

• provides or prescribes a drug that the eligible person takes themselves, in order to bring about their own death
  • this is becoming known as self-administered medical assistance in dying
  • it was previously known as medically assisted suicide or assisted suicide