Thank you so much for this post, and for the comments below.

My own background is complex, with a substantial amount of abuse when I was a child, and then much bullying in school, devastating loneliness, and a subsequent civil war and migration background, including poverty. My health problems are chronic and visible, but such that I am often placed “just outside” the so-called “normal” spectrum (eg when people attribute them to me being tired or clumsy, or a foreigner).

Except for my finances, which are abysmal, my life now is good and filled with love, much more love than I thought was available for me in this universe. But in the past, I have often yearned for death, and I often assumed that it would be good and merciful to be given a chance to die.

Not that I ever had much faith in the medical profession as practiced in mechanized, modernized environments; I have always found most official health practitioners to be cold-hearted, administratively minded, enamored with charts and statistics. Certainly I have always found the arrogance of many, even most of those “experts” repugnant, and eugenic arguments enrage me. But I thought that death could provide consolation and a place of refuge from this often terrible world, and my mind seemed set on the question of euthanasia.

After reading your post (and some other materials), I am reconsidering my opinion. The question of who decides what “worthy” life is, and how they implement the consequences of the decision, is paramount.

The bottom line is — there is an incredible amount of cruelty underneath the surface, and doctors, nurses, administrators and politicians enamored with money and power have no right to decide who is to live and who is to die. I mourn the victims of these horrible crimes just as I mourn the suffering of people who have been abused as children. Many greetings, in love and solidarity.

As I watched the baby, I realized I’d seen the same blank look he had on his face on the faces of some severely disabled people, who do have entire brains but can’t control their expressions well. Is he able to think at all? Whether he can or not, the comments chilled my blood:

Kill it…The look in its eyes creeps me out…It’s just a piece of ham with a face, that’s all.

Any one of these things could have been said about you on your videos, or on videos of other people with severe disabilities. I can’t stop thinking about what could happen to this child if he continues to grow and survive.

There are so many assumptions when caregivers kill disabled people, and they all seem to be slanted towards the caregiver and against the disabled person.

It’s assumed all disabled people are constantly on the verge of death, so dying suddenly for no obvious reason is rarely treated as suspicious.
It’s assumed that disabled people are dangerous and difficult to control in a special and extreme way, so stuff that looks obviously abusive gets a free pass because of people going “You don’t know how it is to deal with those people! How else do you manage them?”
It’s assumed caregivers all have good intentions, so they could only possibly perpetrate well-meant mercy killings.
It’s assumed all disabled people long for death, so killing them is seen as a kindness.
And right there, it’s assumed all disabled people don’t have lives of any real value, so killing them is not a big deal.

In 2000, this same family doctor, Harold Shipman, was found guilty of murdering 15 patients. A subsequent government report, The Shipman Inquiry, found that he had probably murdered around 250 patients, making him the biggest serial killer in British history. No one knows exactly why he did it, as he refused to say anything about the cases before he committed suicide in prison.

The stereotype of a mass murderer is that of a strange loner, but Shipman totally failed to fit the stereotype – he was, after all, a doctor who came across as such a model of his profession that he had been invited to appear on TV to talk about care in the community.

The Shipman case became famous, and has led to a lot more awareness of this issue in Britain, both in healthcare and in society at large.

Dorothy: If you were really great and powerful, you’d keep your promises.

Wizard: Do you presume to criticize the great Oz? You ungrateful creatures. Think yourselves lucky that I’m giving you audience tomorrow instead of 20 years from now. The great Oz has spoken.

Wizard: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The great and powerful wizard has spoken.

Dorothy: Who are you?

Wizard: I am the great… and powerful… Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy: You are? I don’t believe you.

Wizard: I’m afraid it’s true. There’s no other wizard except me.

Scarecrow: You humbug!

Cowardly Lion: Yeah!

Wizard: That’s exactly so, I’m a humbug.

Dorothy: Oh, you’re a very bad man.

Wizard: No, my dear, I’m a very good man. I’m just a very bad wizard.

Realities are often very different from what they appear to be, and it is the unquestioning collective mind that lays the foundation for complacency. Everyone, reveal your wizards behind the curtain, assess their value and move toward your goals. Realize that, like Dorothy, you have had the power all along to fulfill your desires. Just click your heels three times… and if that doesn’t work, believe in yourself. Sing a happy song. You’ll get to where your going soon enough.