Atlantic Article: Why I Hope to Die at 75

Weirfan

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/

Interesting article that was posted on the local golf forum. It raised some interesting and stimulative discussions and comments.

Curious as to how people here feel about his comments

raggmann54

Weirfan More claptrap from the "get rid of the elderly because they are a drain on society and have no useful purpose for society" bullshit. This is the left's way of "fixing" Social Security and Medicare and playing god...

johnnydoom

I kind of skimmed the article since I have a meeting coming up. The title is click bait, but the sentiment of refusing life extending treatments is reasonable assuming one is not very healthy by that time. All of us are different in the way we age and the health we retain and those decisions have to start being made when one can contemplate if the pain is worth the consciousness. My father, who was otherwise mentally fit, turned down kidney dialysis at the age of 88 because his knees and his eyes were also failing and to him it wasn't worth pursuing additional time. But he certainly did not regret living as long as he did (1 month short of 90). Edit to add: while it sounds noble for an elderly person to pass on a treatment thinking that a younger person with more life potential will benefit more, no one can foresee the amount of misery that lies ahead for anyone at any age.

Weirfan

johnnydoom

Agree with this. My great aunt lived to 95, healthy as a horse , drove her car up until the day she died....had a stroke sitting at the dinner table at our cottage and that was that. On the contrary My mom died at 52, suffered with cancer for 3 years before and so their is the flipside

fwiw, I agree with the author. On average We spend that last 10 years or so of our lives in "poor health" " so depending on the quality of that, count me out. I don't want to be a drain on the HC system and definitely don't want to cause emotional and financial stress and strain on my children to have to care for me in poor health.

I regularly golf with a couple of the work guys who are in their 70's. I'm not sure that I would still play at that age, seeing what they go through but who knows maybe I will...they seem to still enjoy it.

Based on my family history, 75 might not be in the cards for me so will keep enjoying life whileI am young.

that all said, I will reserve the right to change my mind should I hit 74/😉

mikeintopeka

Rubbish.

I've spent quite a bit of time with my 92-year-old Dad since Christmas. Not because he needs my help, I thought he was interested in selling his 'bachelor pad' and moving to a senior living arrangement. He found a lot of his cronies at a senior apartment highrise and a friend that works there as their activity director messaged me that he knew EVERYONE and will fit in great.

I called him to see if we could travel to see his new digs and help pack some boxes this weekend. He then informed me he drove down to see his new apartment last week and couldn't pull the trigger to write the deposit check. He said he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with all of those old people needing wheelchairs or walkers to get around and he left there depressed. The old fart still wants to live!

He just executed a very detailed and thoughtful health care directive for me to see gets implemented. He enjoys his life now but is absolutely against any resuscitation or life-saving measures. He wanted to put his wishes and directive down in writing before a death panel makes the decision for him and/or the family. I love his spunk!

Eguller

Weirfan I regularly golf with a couple of the work guys who are in their 70's. I'm not sure that I would still play at that age, seeing what they go through but who knows maybe I will...they seem to still enjoy it.

Based on my family history, 75 might not be in the cards for me so will keep enjoying life whileI am young.

that all said, I will reserve the right to change my mind should I hit 74/😉

I will continue to enjoy the golf, the golf buddies, the beauty of the course and the challenge as long
as I can. I play (and walk) about 4-5 times a week. Good advice came 30 years ago that 'keeping your wheels'
is one of the most important things you can do for good health. He was right. I only ride when required.

Playing a 6800 yd course is still an enjoyable challenge as I can still move it out far enough to not hit
woods into longer par 4's. Bottom line - keep at it and enjoy your time while you are able. Oh.....I just turned 74.
So, as far as giving up.....stuff it. 🤨

KCee

I can see his point(s) and he's not saying he'll end it all at 75, but just not do all he can to go beyond that. It may be a good mindset for some so that they say do what they really want to do before then, but maybe not right for others.

My dad was about my age (in his 50's) when he was diagnosed with Addison's. He nearly died before they diagnosed it because the majority of people that get Addison's get it when they're young. At that time the doc told him he really shouldn't expect to live much beyond 65. He just turned 78 last month so the doc was off, but maybe his forecast was a good thing. I remember when that all happened and I honestly feel like the whole ordeal made my dad a better person. Not that he was a bad guy before, but I felt like he got a lot nicer, less judgmental, more relaxed, et al. He retired early and enjoyed life a lot more....could also be because my brother and I were out of the house just after that lol. Any way, I wonder if the doc had told my dad that he would probably live to 80 if he would have started enjoying life more as quickly.

mulegolf

I remember when I thought that I wouldn't want to live past age 65. I'm 71 now and although I have heart disease, diabetes, bad knees, back and hips I find that I'm not ready to go yet. There's still some golf to be played but I'm not as active as I was. I find sometimes just sitting on the deck with my wife is fine, watching the birds and squirrels in the back yard.

johnnydoom

The only thing I've made clear to my family is that if I get Alzheimer's - refuse all treatments or resuscitations. Otherwise, let me decide. My mother also died of cancer at the age of 53 (4 days after her birthday). I have high hopes that if I'm even around after 75 that I'll have enough mental acuity to pass on life experience to younger people in my life. Ingenuity and invention aren't the only value to be gained from the mind. Experience and philosophy can have as much to do with happiness and well being as any sense of value gained through productivity.

Sarnella

There is a lot of life to live after age 75, the writer of that piece is a real wankertwat.
I was told 14 years ago that I had 6 months to live, I hope I make it to 100!!!!!!!

Toulon

Way too Logan's Run-ish for my tastes. Jack Kevorkian likely would agree, or at least help.

We have a son with autism. It's our goal to live as long as we possibly can to care for him.

You had no choice in your birth and you're not to have a choice in your death. You are meant to live what you are meant to live. Choosing to opt out screws with the natural order of things. Just another way man wants control over what he's not to have any over.

Our family recently lost someone at 100. She was sharp as a tack. I bet she'd still be going if not for the forced isolation of this pandemic. Seeing her big 100 birthday celebration cancelled because of COVID we believe was a major contributing factor to her death. On the other side of my family we had someone make it to 99. Quality of life still good until she fell down the stairs and broke her hip.

The whole tone of this article is evil hiding behind some feigned form of altruism. Extremely selfish. It really is about wanting out because the game isn't as fun for them anymore.