So, as per euthanasia in general, I'd say I'm for it, but it always depends on the circumstances. I mean, when I was little, my parents had my cat euthanized because he was old. REALLY old. He'd even stopped grooming himself, and was having trouble defending himself from wild cats, but I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to die. It might've meant more work for me, keeping him clean and safe and such, but how could i be sure of what he'd wanted? From their point of view, he was suffering. But he had love. He had food, shelter, "friends", in the form of other cats. However, it was impossible to go and ask him if he wanted to be put down. And it is there that the main difference between human and animal euthanasia lies. One can "think for itself" and we "take responsibility" for the other.
Was he really so different from the elderly "suffering" in the nursing homes of the world? If those humans were animals, they'd have been put down long ago. Objectively thinking, why should a bunch of humans who can no longer care for themselves exist? They no longer "serve a purpose", so to speak, in our society. What good do they do? Sure, they give us advice and such, but does anyone know how much money is put into nursing homes worldwide? I certainly don't, but I can imagine that it could find many other uses. I'm not saying that we should euthanize our parents and grandparents just to save money - as I stated earlier, this is my objective view.
Why do we have such a hard time with euthanization? Everything dies eventually. Of course, circumstances are, as always, a key asset in this regard. Such as, to say, if someone suffered a head injury, and became a "vegetable", so to speak. There is no doubt in my mind that she/he should be euthanized. It is literally a waste of all our resources to keep a body alive like that (in this situation, at least). If the body is all that is left, perhaps with a couple senses intact, then why keep a mindless body alive? Because we want to spend more time with an unresponsive "vegetable" that is beyond anything that medical science can do for? We really are greedy; keeping a body alive to make ourselves feel better, even though it will still eventually die. Prolonging the process by which it does will only make it harder to accept in the end.
There are many elderly people out there in this world who will suffer from Alzheimer's. For those of you not familiar with it, it is basically the gradual deterioration of basic brain functions, usually due to old age. They forget things: where they live, how old they are, who they are. Eventually, they will even forget things like having to breathe. Then, they die. If I were to visit an Alzheimer's victim, and tell them that she/he was going to be euthanized for various reasons, how do you suppose they would react? Would they accept death, thinking that they'd lived their life already; or would they reject it, thinking that they still have somewhere to go in life?
Euthanization is hard because it means the loss of someone we care about. But why do we euthanize in the first place? In the case of animals, it might be because it is what we think is best for them; or it might be that we simply don't have the resources to take care of them; or even that we are simply lazy and don't want to have to put in the time and effort into keeping them alive. But what about people? It's hard to say that we kill off the elderly because it saves money, or because we're lazy. Sometimes, it's because we love them. He honor their request for death, and deliver it upon them. But it is that same emotion that makes it hard to decide in their place. When it comes time to decide if they would want to live as an empty shell, draining resources from humanity, with no chance for recovery, what do we do?
I've seen people mourn the deaths of animals and other people alike, and I'll go ahead and say that I haven't noticed a huge difference. There might be a big religious ceremony held for the death of a loved one, and for an animal, perhaps a hastily dug hole in your backyard. Chances are, more people will mourn the death of another human than would for an animal. But either way, the emotional pain fades with time (given that everyone takes death differently and mourns in their own way), and soon, we accept the death as a part of reality. Death is eternal, and life continues on, eternally impacted with the past actions of that individual (regardless of being human or otherwise, although human impacts tend greatly to be more affecting).
I do apologize for the ranting
And thus I end my little speech the same why I began it; generally speaking, I am all for euthanasia. However, there are some boundaries that should not be crossed, and we should all try, not as humans, but as living beings, to see the lives of other living things in a new light. Life cannot be replaced; be careful who, or what, you euthanize.
