permaculture

[Bob Waldrop <bob@bobwaldrop.net>]

I used to be afraid of dying, when I was younger.  Now I'm 62, and while 
I am not anxious or looking forward to death, I am no longer afraid of 
dying. Death is part of life, the renewal of all things.  There are 
worse things than dying, one of them is continuing to suffer from a 
terrible and painful condition and extreme medical treatment, which 
happened to both of my parents.  During one of the last visits I had 
with my father, who was dying of lung cancer complicated by 
incompetent/careless medical treatment, he said, "Bobby Max, would you 
get one of my guns and just shoot me?"  He then laughed and said 
something like "well i know you can't do that but it would sure be a 
blessing if you could."  He was tired of suffering and knew his time was 
near its end, and he was ready.  I hope I have his calmness in the face 
of that inevitable.

In the meantime, I shudder to think of the impact of actual working life 
extension drugs. They will be horrendously expensive, and so likely will 
be used to extend the lives of some of the most evil people on the 
planet, who will of course continue to commit their evil for even more 
years.  The nice thing about death is that it is the ultimate 
equalizer.  Rich or poor, we never get out of life alive.

The permaculture relevance is that death is part of the cycle of natural 
succession for humans as well as the rest of the living ecosystem.

Bob Waldrop, Oklahoma City
http://www.ipermie.net  Permaculture your urban lifestyle & protect yourself 
from the four horsemen of the modern apocalypse: peak oil, climate instability, 
economic irrationality, and political criminality

On 1/7/2014 1:56 PM, Toby Hemenway wrote:
> On Jan 7, 2014, at 10:48 AM, John D'hondt wrote:
>
> > I think there is a reason why 3 score years and ten (or a bit longer) may
> > not be such a bad thing.
> It's a bit OT, but I remember reading that a study showed that the typical 
> 20-year-old wants to live forever, 40-year-olds want to live to be 200, 
> 60-year-olds want to live to be 100, and 80-year-olds want another decade or 
> so if they are in good health. It all works out. Because, like they say, 
> getting old isn't for sissies.
>
> Toby
> http://patternliteracy.com
>
>
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