Scholarship
A Pathology of Medical Ethics: Economic Medical Rationing in a Morally Incoherent Society
Publication Date
1990
Publication
The Linacre Quarterly
Document Type
Article
Abstract
In Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, one of the main characters is a writer. And in one of his science fiction novels, he looked into the future to an "America in which almost all of the work was done by machines, and the only people who could get work had three or more Ph. D.'s. There was a serious overpopulation problem, too. All serious diseases had been conquered. So death was voluntary, and the government, to encourage volunteers for death, set up a purple-roofed Ethical Suicide Parlor at every major intersection, right next door to an orange-roofed Howard Johnson's. There were pretty hostesses in the parlor, and Barca-Loungers, and Muzak, and a choice of 14 painless ways to die. The suicide parlors were busy places, because so many people felt silly and pointless, and because it was supposed to be an unselfish, patriotic thing to do, to die. The suicides also got free last meals next door. And so on ... One of the characters asked a death stewardess if he would go to heaven, and she told him that of course he would. He asked if he would see God, and she said, 'Certainly, honey.' And he said, 'I sure hope so. I want to ask Him something I never was able to find out down here.' 'What's that?' she said, strapping him in. 'What in hell are people for?' "
Recommended Citation
“A Pathology of Medical Ethics: Economic Medical Rationing in a Morally Incoherent Society,” The Linacre Quarterly 57/2 (May 1990) 59-67.
