My little brother Peter was born in 1954 in Toronto. He was immediately taken away and for two days the nurses and doctors wouldn't let my mother see him, nor would they say why. Eventually my mother insisted they bring her baby to her. Peter had Downs Syndrome and other complications. They had withheld care from him in the hopes that he would die. He lived 52 years. He had a beautiful heart and he helped our whole family see the world in a more caring way.
All good points, Tessa, gross, gruesome and true, thank you... AND having had to put my sweet dog down 2 years ago, the hardest most terrible decision ever. I rescued her when she was a puppy, we were together 13 years and she developed heart failure and cancer and was truly suffering. I did not want to do it and I miss her every day. I do think that there are situations in which the kind merciful thing to do is to put someone out of their misery (Who's Life Is It Anyway movie). AND the way seniors are treated in the USA (and I am 71, soon 72) is abominable. I've been in 6-7 nursing homes, one worse than the next. They are rife with neglect and abuse BEFORE COVID. I written about it and how also 50% of those people WITHOUT HOMES HERE ARE 50-80+ years old. Have also Written about that (I spent 3-5 years sleeping in my car in my 60's because NO ONE CAN LIVE ON SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME... NOMADLAND MOVIE PROVES THAT TOO).... yes that guy's article is creepy, I remember that.
Thank you for your insights. I will watch the documentary.
As someone who has always had dogs and been the caretaker for many family pets, it is a deep issue you address in your reference to pet euthanasia. I find, if we are honest, it is absolutely true that we take life into our hands, and yet we do have the opportunity to end very real suffering. Perhaps at times we are in denial of the privilege we assume, and perhaps at other times we make life too precious.
I have watched pet parents hold on to a dog that is blind, incontinent, terrified and in pain. Dressing them in diapers, putting their whole lives on hold to nurse a soul which is clearly ready to fly free. I have myself stood sobbing in the parking lot of a veterinarian's office, holding a shoe box with a tiny white hamster injured by our border collie, unable to face the task ahead. I was always the one who had to deal with a dog who could not go on, and it's not a happy job. I have been asked to find great courage in my heart, and to see this as a form of love.
It would be my wish to both choose and assist my own dying if it were possible. I read once of an indigenous tribe, in South American I believe, where when a woman became pregnant while her firstborn was still a baby, the second baby would be left to die, in order to ensure the survival of the first. The mother herself would make this choice, and was at peace with it.
Life is full of these desperately surreal choices. Perhaps the question is, how do we find the wisdom, the consciousness to honour the beauty of life, without being afraid of death.
Inge Voss was a young woman in 1933. She had two young toddlers and an alcoholic husband. Her husband was arrested and taken into a work camp. Inge went to the authorities to protest. She said that, even though he was a drinker and good for nothing, her husband belonged to her rather than to the state. Thereupon Inge was put into a psychiatric ward, where she stayed until the late 1950's, when, finally, her petitions were acknowledged and her case was reviewed. Upon her release, she went to the office that had ordered her arrest in 33. She wanted to find out where her children were. The same woman as before sat at the desk of the same office. She refused to tell her. Only after the retirement of this officer, in the 1960's, Inge found her children. They had been adopted and didn't remember her. They were not interested in any contact. I met Mrs. Voss in the 1980's. She lived in a tiny wooden house in a garden allotment and kept geese.
I have never been comfortable with the concept of "having to put down" your dog or cat —having to?—because they are old and infirm. Usually it's a dog, the most loyal, trusting, devoted creature imaginable. I know everyone does it, but I just could never.
I have also witnessed and had to deal with the consequences of irresponsible pet owners throwing their pets out into the street for stupid reasons (moving and/or a baby in the family) instead of finding them NEW homes. Yes, people can be cruel even without pretense or being seduced. My friend rescued a dog years ago in LA, a great dog, who was thrown out of a car onto the freeway where she found him and took care of him for many years.
Tessa, I discovered you and this piece by way of Charles Eisenstein. Thank you for calling attention to the harrowingly relevant “Caring Corrupted” documentary, which I happened to reference in the article I published last night, “Letter to a Colluder: Stop Enabling Tyranny” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling).
Your comparison to murdering pets struck deeply—especially when you recall the example of Brits who so callously had their healthy animals euthanized simply because the government advised it. The National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC) put out a pamphlet titled “Advice to Animal Owners,” which in part read:
“If at all possible, send or take your household animals into the country in advance of an emergency.… If you cannot place them in the care of neighbours, it really is kindest to have them destroyed.” (https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24478532)
Kindest, right. The banality of evil strikes again.
I look forward to exploring more of your work and fighting robots together :-)
You might want to watch "Final Account". It's more to your first section of this writing about German but it's the way people rationalize what they do.
Damn. That's messed up. But it makes sense. And yes, I don't think many people think about it that way either.
People often don't see what the death doctors in Nazi Germany did as "humane." However; when death is seen as humane, people don't look at it the same way.
Torturing people is one thing, but euthanasia is another. Hell in Canada, there pretty much guiding people towards that -- as a form of "treatment."
I see what you mean as to how quickly people can get there.
My little brother Peter was born in 1954 in Toronto. He was immediately taken away and for two days the nurses and doctors wouldn't let my mother see him, nor would they say why. Eventually my mother insisted they bring her baby to her. Peter had Downs Syndrome and other complications. They had withheld care from him in the hopes that he would die. He lived 52 years. He had a beautiful heart and he helped our whole family see the world in a more caring way.
Hey Tessa, I just shared this in my new Substack post. https://charleseisenstein.substack.com/p/some-stuff-im-reading
Any society that sacrifices its children to "protect" adults - is a Savage one and will not endure.
What a gorgeous piece of writing that penetrates right to the heart of the issue. I'm definitely going to share this one.
All good points, Tessa, gross, gruesome and true, thank you... AND having had to put my sweet dog down 2 years ago, the hardest most terrible decision ever. I rescued her when she was a puppy, we were together 13 years and she developed heart failure and cancer and was truly suffering. I did not want to do it and I miss her every day. I do think that there are situations in which the kind merciful thing to do is to put someone out of their misery (Who's Life Is It Anyway movie). AND the way seniors are treated in the USA (and I am 71, soon 72) is abominable. I've been in 6-7 nursing homes, one worse than the next. They are rife with neglect and abuse BEFORE COVID. I written about it and how also 50% of those people WITHOUT HOMES HERE ARE 50-80+ years old. Have also Written about that (I spent 3-5 years sleeping in my car in my 60's because NO ONE CAN LIVE ON SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME... NOMADLAND MOVIE PROVES THAT TOO).... yes that guy's article is creepy, I remember that.
Thank you for your insights. I will watch the documentary.
As someone who has always had dogs and been the caretaker for many family pets, it is a deep issue you address in your reference to pet euthanasia. I find, if we are honest, it is absolutely true that we take life into our hands, and yet we do have the opportunity to end very real suffering. Perhaps at times we are in denial of the privilege we assume, and perhaps at other times we make life too precious.
I have watched pet parents hold on to a dog that is blind, incontinent, terrified and in pain. Dressing them in diapers, putting their whole lives on hold to nurse a soul which is clearly ready to fly free. I have myself stood sobbing in the parking lot of a veterinarian's office, holding a shoe box with a tiny white hamster injured by our border collie, unable to face the task ahead. I was always the one who had to deal with a dog who could not go on, and it's not a happy job. I have been asked to find great courage in my heart, and to see this as a form of love.
It would be my wish to both choose and assist my own dying if it were possible. I read once of an indigenous tribe, in South American I believe, where when a woman became pregnant while her firstborn was still a baby, the second baby would be left to die, in order to ensure the survival of the first. The mother herself would make this choice, and was at peace with it.
Life is full of these desperately surreal choices. Perhaps the question is, how do we find the wisdom, the consciousness to honour the beauty of life, without being afraid of death.
Inge Voss was a young woman in 1933. She had two young toddlers and an alcoholic husband. Her husband was arrested and taken into a work camp. Inge went to the authorities to protest. She said that, even though he was a drinker and good for nothing, her husband belonged to her rather than to the state. Thereupon Inge was put into a psychiatric ward, where she stayed until the late 1950's, when, finally, her petitions were acknowledged and her case was reviewed. Upon her release, she went to the office that had ordered her arrest in 33. She wanted to find out where her children were. The same woman as before sat at the desk of the same office. She refused to tell her. Only after the retirement of this officer, in the 1960's, Inge found her children. They had been adopted and didn't remember her. They were not interested in any contact. I met Mrs. Voss in the 1980's. She lived in a tiny wooden house in a garden allotment and kept geese.
I have never been comfortable with the concept of "having to put down" your dog or cat —having to?—because they are old and infirm. Usually it's a dog, the most loyal, trusting, devoted creature imaginable. I know everyone does it, but I just could never.
I have also witnessed and had to deal with the consequences of irresponsible pet owners throwing their pets out into the street for stupid reasons (moving and/or a baby in the family) instead of finding them NEW homes. Yes, people can be cruel even without pretense or being seduced. My friend rescued a dog years ago in LA, a great dog, who was thrown out of a car onto the freeway where she found him and took care of him for many years.
A very powerful, very disturbing post. Thank you Tessa.
Good citizens made Hitler very successful for a time. Book- Learning from the Germans....
Tessa, I discovered you and this piece by way of Charles Eisenstein. Thank you for calling attention to the harrowingly relevant “Caring Corrupted” documentary, which I happened to reference in the article I published last night, “Letter to a Colluder: Stop Enabling Tyranny” (https://margaretannaalice.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-colluder-stop-enabling).
Your comparison to murdering pets struck deeply—especially when you recall the example of Brits who so callously had their healthy animals euthanized simply because the government advised it. The National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC) put out a pamphlet titled “Advice to Animal Owners,” which in part read:
“If at all possible, send or take your household animals into the country in advance of an emergency.… If you cannot place them in the care of neighbours, it really is kindest to have them destroyed.” (https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24478532)
Kindest, right. The banality of evil strikes again.
I look forward to exploring more of your work and fighting robots together :-)
The Atlantic is a thoroughly captured Globalist publication. They exist to program the masses.
You might want to watch "Final Account". It's more to your first section of this writing about German but it's the way people rationalize what they do.
Trailer: https://www.focusfeatures.com/final-account
Damn. That's messed up. But it makes sense. And yes, I don't think many people think about it that way either.
People often don't see what the death doctors in Nazi Germany did as "humane." However; when death is seen as humane, people don't look at it the same way.
Torturing people is one thing, but euthanasia is another. Hell in Canada, there pretty much guiding people towards that -- as a form of "treatment."
I see what you mean as to how quickly people can get there.
Those big-smile people...