The provocative essay in the Atlantic titled "Why I Hope to Die at 75" has ricocheted around the Internet this week, drawing applause and condemnation -- mostly the latter, it seems -- for its author, Ezekiel Emanuel. And the criticism isn't just coming from 74-year-olds.
An article on MyAJC.com about the Emanuel's essay was one of the most-visited pieces on the site Tuesday. It obviously tapped into a wellspring of thought, worry and debate about the end of life, how we'd like to spend it, how we actually spend it -- the specter of "death panels" even came up again.
So this time it's your turn. Read on, and let us know what you think:
Emanuel, 57, chairs the Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Here's a bit of his very long essay, which has generated nearly 3,000 comments on the Atlantic and responses from across the nation:
Living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic.
By the time I reach 75, I will have lived a complete life. I will have loved and been loved. My children will be grown and in the midst of their own rich lives. I will have seen my grandchildren born and beginning their lives. I will have pursued my life's projects and made whatever contributions, important or not, I am going to make.
Tyler Cowen, who George Mason University economics professor who writes on the Marginal Revolution blog, weighed in Wednesday with criticism.
"I would rather be remembered as 'that really old guy who hung on forever because he loved life so much,' than as vibrant," writes Cowen. He also says:
It is easy for me to see how a person could be a valuable role model for others past the age of 75. I expect Ezekiel in particular to fulfill this function superbly. I still think frequently of the late Marvin Becker, the Princeton Renaissance historian, who for me was an important role model at the age of 77. Marvin often used to say "Oh, to be seventy again!" He had more than his share of aches and pains, but he was always a comfort and joy to his wife Betty, and most likely to his children and grandchildren as well.
More to the point, and coming from the marginalist camp, there is Art Buchwald, who noted: "Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got."
Emanuel says in his essay that Americans' "manic desperation to endlessly extend life is misguided and potentially destructive," and he wants no part of medical measures that simply extend existence when quality of life is irretrievable.
He also points out that, as far as he knows, he is perfectly healthy and, to underscore that assertion, says he just climbed Kilimanjaro with two nephews.
Bill Gardner, writing on the Incidental Economist blog, calls Emanuel's essay "brave and constructive" but says it has a flaw.
"Focusing his essay on a specific age was, unfortunately, poor writing," says Gardner. "Emanuel doesn’t care about the age. What he wants to say is that there will be a time when his mental and physical powers will have deteriorated to the point where the value of his additional life would not justify the treatments that would extend it."
About the Author
