Are we becoming too weak?

Comrade_
Comrade_:
Based on reading the Belgian incident of two identical twin brothers' choice.

"Doctors said it was not just because the twins were deaf and blind that they had a right to die, but also due to the bond that existed between them, and the fact they could not bear being unable to communicate with each other."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21039064
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Compared to Francisco Goya or Jack Clemo or others who were blind-deaf.
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I might seem callous but are we as humans becoming weaker (emotionally/mentally)?... or perhaps this can be an individual case, based on individual strength to continue when one is faced with a hard thing as becoming both deaf and blind. I acknowledge it can be a frustrating situation and having both hearing & sight I can't say that I fully understand what it will be like but I feel I'd choose life and sort out myself. Taking the step to learn to communicate by other means. Death just seems as a weak route...

What are your thoughts? Feel free to state it plainly.
(Edited by Comrade_)
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$buffgirl$
$buffgirl$: jack u r soo deep
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Serabi
Serabi:

I am pro-euthanasia, but this is extreme. How did the brothers communicate their wishes but can't communicate with each other?

As for whether we are becoming weaker, yes and no.

Physically - definitely yes. Diabetic, epileptic, renal failure mothers give birth to babies and perpetuate the propensity for the diseases/illnesses.

Emotionally - I don't know.

Mentally - No, we are getting stronger and moire clever as the level of challenges rises. It might be our downfall though.

My apologies to anyone who feel affronted by the above response. It is a purely clinical retort.

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Comrade_
Comrade_: This article went more into detail:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1315336--deaf-belgian-twins-going-blind-choose-to-be-euthanized

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-Distraught about going blind, 45-year-old deaf twin brothers from Belgium chose to be euthanized because they couldn't bear not to see one another, according to reports from Flanders.

-The twins, who were born deaf, had spent their entire lives together. Both were cobblers, and they never married or had children.

-"They lived together, did their own cooking and cleaning. You could eat off the floor. Blindness would have made them completely dependent," their older brother, Dirk, told the London Telegraph. "They did not want to be in an institution.

-"Their great fear was that they would no longer be able to see each other," he said. "That was for my brothers unbearable."

-He said he and their parents tried to talk them out of it, but they were persuaded to let them die as they wanted.
//

-Seems that they decided it before going fully blind, I think.

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PhiloSophia
PhiloSophia: Others have learned to live with such challenging circumstances. Case in point: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

Have their been advances in the area of communication for the deaf/blind? I imagine there have been.

Truth is, both men had the means, legally and medically to end their lives if they so wish. It's sad that they've concluded that it would be better to die than to take on the challenge to forge ahead with life and try to find a means to continue to communicate with one another. Far easier said than done, I imagine.

I'm concerned with the legal ramifications of this legal decision being carried out, and what it will mean for others who have the means to carry out this decision should any given person with challenging circumstances wish to end their lives as well. When does life become unworthy to sustain?
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Brightsky
Brightsky: I don't think one person can talk another person out of their desire to die if that person is intent upon it. I do believe, however, that a person who chooses death over life obviously sees no point to this game anymore. They have lost even the smallest hope of finding solutions to their predicament, LIFE. There will always be, in the history of mankind, those who forge ever onward in the battle of life, overcoming obstacles most of us could never imagine, so where there is no will to live, perhaps it makes sense to give up/give in, hoping that somewhere in the future there will be a second chance at rebirth. Who knows?

For me, I'm in until the end...and God knows, life has never been easy for me. I just see the light at the tunnel's end, and thank God for that every day...
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Brightsky
Brightsky: ps Yes, Jack, I think humans are becoming feeble: the more we learn, the less we implement what we know; the more free we become, the more imprisoned we are in the psychological sense...so two steps forward, three steps back...lol...sad but true...
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Comrade_
Comrade_: "When does life become unworthy to sustain?"
-Good question.

Si, I get what you say B.
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duncan124
duncan124:
The story isn't what it seems to be I think.

Perhaps in some remote part of Belgium there were 'cobblers' but otherwise that trade never existed there. For the most part they wore shoes with straw soles, clogs or if they were in the army boots which were of a unusual design not requiring repairs.
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Serabi
Serabi:

I didn't realize that this was a done deal. It was their choice and I respect that. I find it difficult to comprehend that healthy men would choose this route, however, it wasn't my life or choice. I find it surprising that both went/were going to, blind at the same time. A bit odd.

All Done:-

Distraught about going blind, 45-year-old deaf twin brothers from Belgium chose to be euthanized because they couldn't bear not to see one another, according to reports from Flanders.

Marc and Eddy Verbessem of Putte died Dec. 14 by lethal injection at Brussels University Hospital. Voluntary euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since September 2002.

The doctor who presided over the euthanasia described the twins as being "very happy."

"It was a relief to see the end of their suffering," David Dufour told Germany's RTL TV network. "They had a cup of coffee in the hall, it went well, and a rich conversation. The separation from their parents and brother was very serene and beautiful. At the last, there was a little wave of their hands, and then they were gone."


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duncan124
duncan124:
I remember something about it when it first happened. Hasn't the story been simplified after the twins returned from the USA??

I did read about it before because it seems to also be about the genocide by the Spanish or the Fake Humans.

The story now has interesting political meanings here in the UK.

Some of the confusion comes from the fact different people have different laws about health care and in translation they sound very different to what they meant and the twins had run out of money for treatment in the USA and had to return to Belgium where they could not live, for the same reason Belgians did never where shoes like in the UK.

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melinoe
melinoe: what terms would qualify someone as suitable for euthanasia? iv read of some people that live there lives with debilitating conditions but make it there goal to live there life to the fullest. i know humans are versatile and can adapt to so many things that affect there lives,but for some its like they have decided they cant function or cope with what they've been faced with - simalar to healthy people who feel like they cant go on. with euthanasia i know it depends on the individual persons circumstances, no i dont think its down to humans becoming weaker. i think that if someone has made a well thought through decision to end what they would class as poor quality of life they should be allowed to.
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Comrade_
Comrade_: ah I understand what you say. That it is more an individual choice vs weakness?
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melinoe
melinoe: yes, i also know what you mean though. i know the definition of weakness is lacking strength of will. some peoples will power when put to the test is incredible. on some occasions people have felt like they wanted to end there life but have overcome there problem and managed to life a peacful life. maybe thats why its illegal here - because of the thought that one might change there mind. idk
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