The Swiss government has approved the Sarco Suicide Pod to help some 1,300 citizens to off themselves in sci-fi style. Beyond the debate over euthanasia, and physician-assisted suicide, what does this slick pre-coffin product say about our drive to make suicide sexy?
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32 replies on “Making Suicide Sexy Again: Swiss Approve Sci-Fi Inspired Sarco Suicide Pod”
but what happens when a group of people want to do it- or if it gets traction and there are not enough? do they build a larger one that holds 10 and you can get a group rate?
Apparently a conceptual prototype exists, but it hasn’t been approved.
Not that I’d be shocked. 2022 is the year Soylent Green was set.
I remember the scene in the film Soylent Green where Edward G. Robinson’s character is lying in his deathbed with a video of a lovely meadow and Beethoven’s 6th Symphony playing. That was “going out in style” 70’s-style.
Bill, I can’t imagine being the person giving the shot glass full of an amber liquid to my spouse. Awful, horrible.
My cancer support group had a speaker from a Death With Dignity group. The topic was the law regarding the use of medically prescribed suicide drugs.
In a large fraction of cases, the drug is never used. The patient has it as a fall-back, and that turns out to be enough to make the rest bearable.
“Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular.”
I’d love to see the State buy one pod to stick in the cell of every person on death row.
THat thing looks cool. I’d like one for my place. It’d match my goth and Star Trek decor.
Would clash w/ the steampunk elements though.
Suicide. Let’s call it by the correct name. Self Murder.
If anything proves that humans have a spirit or soul that is separate from their bodies, I say this is it. Animals do not suicide. Humans do. And what part of a being is that which can decide to kill a part of itself except that which is separate from what it is destroying.
what happens to that soul when it rejoins the great soul that we are all a part of, we do not know. But somehow, I don’t think ‘it’ would be happy with us ‘copping out’ on our missions here on Earth.
We all have missions to do. Let’s get on with it regardless. Pain is what makes worth seeing a new sun rise.
(Said as someone who has lost someone dear to a self inflicted Gunshot. Don’t make it easy! Never give in to the WAR within!)
Lemmings.
After it kills you, it should incinerate you too, and then drop a little urn out the bottom.
The disintegration chambers in that old Star Trek Episode, A Taste of Armageddon.
I hope you will all take this in the spirit of furthering the discussion, as it is intended. I have no answers, nor am I taking exception to anything that has been said. But, let me ask a question.
If you have an appointed date with destiny, fate, God…call it what you will, many would take exception to pulling that date in a bit by any form of suicide. But what about the opposite? What if we prolong your life beyond the appointed date? I’m sure most would support rushing you to the hospital if you have an accident or heart attack. Most would support cancer treatments, and treating most diseases to the extent of our technology.
What about when the body starts to shut down on its own? Should we take you to the hospital and put tubes in you to make sure you have nutrition and liquids? What if you no longer have the mental capacity to decide whether or not you want a feeding tube and someone else has to make the decision?
A close friend’s mother was in the throws of progressing dementia. Living at home, she was loosing the motivation to eat. She was naturally shutting down. My friend had no choice but to put her in a care facility, where she lived for another 10 years. She wasn’t particularly happy, nor did she really know who anyone was. But she could be coaxed to eat, and they were able to stave off any natural illnesses. Had she been left to her own devices, her body would have died when her brain was no longer capable of directing life. I’m not making a judgement, and I hope I’m not faced with a similar decision.
So, my real question…when is artificially extending life no different than artificially shortening it? And who gets to decide?
One can decide up front whether they want to be put on life support or not. I don’t equate accidents or treatments for curable/treatable diseases with imminent death. Our time on earth compared to eternity is a micro-drop in the bucket. I would argue that if you’re a believer, you know this and will respond accordingly. If you’re not a believer, you’ll make whatever choice makes you comfortable. I would also argue there is no such thing as artificially shortening a life as once you’re gone, it’s not reversible. Just my 2 cents.
Soft euthanasia, (aka, assisted suicide), is just another effort to make something abhorrent palatable. It’s already here in California as our bag-full-of-demons governor has recently signed off on a law reducing the requirements associated with assisted suicide.
Expect more of this to come. The eugenic Death Cult has made abortion a ‘women’s health care issue’. Now they’re going after seniors and those with severe mental issues or chronic illness. After all, those populations don’t contribute to society.
Jesus told us more than anything else to ‘Fear not’. God knows the number of our days. We will not die one day before or one day after. If you choose to take that authority away from Him, well, that’s on you. And when that day comes, He’ll use whatever is handy to take you out.
https://apnews.com/article/4158b046ab168c342b35a7ba0dea1ddd
That said, I live alone. If you drive by my house and smell something funny coming out of it, call the coroner. I’ve left the planet.
I thought the Swiss were smarter than this. Quite sad.
ooooh, this subject brings up a lot of angst and conflict for me. I live alone; I’m up in age but physically healthy; mental health is good; I don’t fear death since it’s not yet at my door. But I have considered suicide as an option for an end of life decision. I do fear living in a state of lingering incapacity, at the mercy of the care from others, being a burden on my only child, the ignominy of possibly dying alone and being found in a state of decomposition. I even explored assisted suicide organizations for information down the road.
However, God’s time for my demise has a purpose, and whether I know what that is or what it serves, it isn’t up to me.
Some say being a burden on your children at the end of your life is part of the deal that starts when they are a burden on you at the beginning of theirs.
With the elderly, the mentally or physically disabled and those that need extra care due to injury, I think they are necessary for society to show compassion and care for others. Whether they are just a mark of civilization or an odd blessing from God, take your pick. In many ways I find it sad that we warehouse our elders away from us instead of keeping them in the center of our life. Sometimes medically it is necessary, but for the frail and infirm it would be better for children to see people in all stages of life, to understand death and dying, and to learn that they do owe people, and people will in turn owe them later in their own lives. Plus, you’ve got someone that can tell stories to entertain, give advice about a myriad of things, and if not able to be a model, at least be a warning (do you want to end up like grandma? then put that cig / crack pipe / other drug down.)
I object to governmental involvement with suicide.
Suicide, either done alone or with help, has been a reality for pretty much forever.
Here the government requires you to pass a test and check all the boxes that the government finds important before you can kill yourself. What if the government disagrees with your decision? What a humiliation and repudiation of one’s basic humanity. The government doesn’t (yet) have the authority to decide if you should be born, why should it have any say in how and when you die?
One of the fundamental jobs of government is to protect life.
If the Scriptures are God’s revelation of himself and the way He designed the universe to work (which, sadly, fewer and fewer believe), it should be clear that man’s nature was shaped when the first man, Adam, took it upon himself to disobey God out of a desire to become like Him. Adam chose the knowledge of good and evil over obedience. In short – He chose his own sovereignty over God’s. The ultimate manifestation of this, “not Thy will, but mine be done,” attitude is to control the time and means by which we end our (or others’) lives. And to profit by this rejection of God’s intended order? Abhorrent.
And in the “This is actually not the babylon Bee” category of reality being crazier than fiction, in Germany the unvaxxed are being euthanasia
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/german-euthanasia-clinics-refusing-unvaccinated-customers
Even the Bee staff can’t imagine some of the reality in the world.
Further reason to be happy I was not vaccinated.
The funadmental difference between funeral home services and these pods is who is intended to be served. The former serves those suffering the loss of a loved one, but the latter serves the corporate greed at the expense of the one who is suffering.
This looks a whole lot like the pods used on the set of the Colony TV series. It also didn’t work out so well for that occupant who was destined to be food or slave. In accordance with what Maryanne Sheryka stated below, this promotion of death, no matter how attractive is the method, is a sickness of the mind and soul.
Can’t believe Steve got through that episode without a mention of Heinlein’s Crazy Years.
But with all seriousness, do people not understand that dystopian movies from the 70s were CAUTIONARY tales, not ASPIRATIONAL.
We now have a company making suicide “prettier” and more comfortable, along with another company making the product below. Really!
The roving terror and brut squads belong in that genre, too.
But… Does it come in Green?
Of course, except they call it Mint Chocolate. Ew! What were they thinking? This could be the most delicious, best nutritious drink ever and I would never, ever buy it or try it.
LOL!!
As does the concept of enforced, premature death in the classic 70’s movie, Logan’s Run.
That’s the one that ends with the cops in sight of the subjects, but they are called off because they have expended the allowable budget for catching them, right?
I have no problem going moral on you. I hope it feels more than uncomfortable to you, because we have a way of becoming, over time, more comfortable with what once made us squeamish. This is just a furthering of modern death cultism. It’s feels wrong, because it is wrong. It’s sick.
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19