Baroness Warnock,Britain's Philosopher Queen

This thread is meant as an information source for people who want to learn more about aspects of the coming dominant ideology in western countries, in this case the United Kingdom.

The Sunday Times - Review

December 12, 2004

Interview: Jasper Gerard meets Baroness Warnock

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1399754_1,00.html


Jasper Gerard : "For not only is Baroness Warnock our pre-eminent medical ethicist who has sat on more committees than Frankie Dettori has horses — on subjects from vivisection to special needs children — ........ "

"Warnock explains that she has changed her public position on euthanasia because the public has changed its position." (!)

Warnock: "There is tremendous danger in thinking there are moral experts who know what is right.” (!)

Warnock: "Killing someone is very difficult. ..... "

Jasper Gerard: Warnock now goes further than supporting the right to suicide, as outlined in the Mental Capacity Bill; she suggests to me there might even be a duty to suicide:

Warnock: “I know I am not really allowed to say it but one of the things that would motivate me is I couldn’t bear hanging on and being such a burden on people. When I say that, people throw up their hands in horror, ‘This is just (the attitude) we dread if (euthanasia) becomes permissible by law; people will feel they have to do it for the sake of their family.’

“But I don’t see what’s so bad about that. In other contexts sacrificing oneself for one’s family would be considered good. I don’t see what is so horrible about the motive of not wanting to be an increasing nuisance.”

So we should be more like elephants? “Exactly, they creep off and get out of the way.” And we should show similar bravery? “Absolutely. It used to be much easier to crawl into one’s corner and die than it is now because people are always dragging you off to be rescued.” Cue: loud laughter.

She goes even further, suggesting the frail as well as the terminally ill should shuffle off early: “If I went into a nursing home it would be a terrible waste of money that my family could use far better, or even that society could use better with inheritance tax.”

and shouldn’t we care for them as they cared for us for as long as they are around? Not so. Warnock points out that the sick at the beginning and end of life’s cycle often rely on a limited public purse, and if we keep a baby alive on a life-support machine we deny someone else treatment:

Warnock: "“Maybe it has to come down to saying, ‘Okay, they can stay alive but the family will have to pay for it.’ Otherwise it will be an awful drain on public resources.”
Jasper: But wouldn’t this offend against doctors’ desire to keep us alive?
Warnock: “I don’t see why the rest of us should be sacrificed to the scruples of the medical profession. Some say, ‘But we wouldn’t like to do it.’ Of course they wouldn’t like to do it, but maybe they should,”

"Warnock suggests saving life for its own sake has become a fetish."

Warnock: “I am not ashamed to say some lives are more worth living than others,”

Jasper Gerard: As one of our most eminent philosophers she has spent a lifetime pondering morality. She believes we pick it up as children from tiny incidents; learning that pulling hair is nasty leads us to conclude harming others is wrong. Her regret is that too many teachers avoid hard moral lessons: “They find it easier to tell children about the rainforest than about right and wrong. Yet little children aren’t very tempted to cut down rainforests.”


If you want to read the whole interview, please visit:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-1399754_2,00.html

"Warnock explains that she has changed her public position on euthanasia because the public has changed its position." (!)

Hmm. I wonder what is meant by this. I suspend judgement, but it's interesting.

Warnock: "There is tremendous danger in thinking there are moral experts who know what is right.” (!)

I agree with this. At the end of the day, people should make their own decisions with their own reasoning, and not bow down to outside authority. Sure, they should be open to persuasion, but this is not the same as accepting outside authority because someone's a priest or has a Ph.D. in philosophy.

Jasper Gerard: Warnock now goes further than supporting the right to suicide, as outlined in the Mental Capacity Bill; she suggests to me there might even be a duty to suicide:

Creepy, and interesting.

I don’t see what is so horrible about the motive of not wanting to be an increasing nuisance.”

This does not suggest duty. This suggests self-sacrifice. I don't think anyone should suggest others have a duty to suicide.

It used to be much easier to crawl into one’s corner and die than it is now because people are always dragging you off to be rescued.

I agree with this. People interfere in others' desires to die too much.

Originally posted by StarValleyWy
Joe,

Your'e gunna hate me for this. I couldn't agree more with her as far as "Mike" is concerned.

I have already signed my living will that I will not go to a "rest home" or a "hospice" or a "hospital" to die. I will di ...[text shortened]... definition of "quality of life". Mine is simple and very human.

Originally posted by StarValleyWy
Joe,

Your'e gunna hate me for this. I couldn't agree more with her as far as "Mike" is concerned.

I have already signed my living will that I will not go to a "rest home" or a "hospice" or a "hospital" to die. I will die at home. When I can't make it to the crapper on my own, I am to be allowed to starve myself to death.

That is for ...[text shortened]... o... It is over. We all need a definition of "quality of life". Mine is simple and very human.

Originally posted by Phlabibit
You should also jump in the tub, and not make a mess of the place when you pass. Someone has to clean up after you!

Or, come to think of it.... did you work that into your will?

"I, SVW being of sound mind and body declair no one ...[text shortened]... rap out'. You will find the cash in my back pocket".

?!

T