https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/27/17286168/alfie-evans-toddler-uk-explained
I am sad that this little boy has died. I cannot imagine how his parents & the medics who have looked after him must feel. It is a gut wrenching story for everyone concerned. No one wants a child to be ill & die. I believe that everyone involved in this did what they thought was right at the time.
But - & it is a big but - everyone can get ill, sometimes terminally. We are all on a journey to death, sometimes it is shorter than we wish & sometimes it is painful.
I think there is a danger that we are expecting medics to be miracle workers, not human beings. I also think that some people think that the "right to life" over rides all other considerations.
I speak from experience. My husband fell from a roof onto concrete & was physically injured & in a coma. I would have given anything for him to wake up. But to what? He would, in all probability be permanently seriously mentally & physically disabled. I knew he wouldn't want that & I didn't want that for him. We were going to switch off the machines 12 days after the accident, but he died naturally.
Death is a natural part of life. Just because we are able to prolong life when there is no quality of life or sentient being doesn't mean we should. We need to have a realistic discussion about what is an acceptable care pathway for this sort of situation. And, yes, financial cost does come into the equation. I have no idea how much the care of Alfie & others like him costs now, but in the EU it varied between 1168 euros & 2025 euros a day in a study published in 2012. This represents a high proportion of the total cost of running a hospital.
Resources are limited. Staff are limited. Money is limited. The NHS cannot do everything. What is a life worth? Well, someone has to answer that question. But for every individual like Alfie there will be many other individuals who either aren't treated or have to wait. The level of overspend in UK hospital trusts is mind boggling.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/31/nhs-trusts-england-overspend-3bn-higher-reported-study-claims
Emotions run high in cases like this - understandibly. But when demonstrations stop patients & staff getting into a hospital there is something wrong. When medics are verbally abused on Social Media & face to face, there is something wrong. When the story dominates the press & media with appealing pictures of a sick little boy to deliberately whip up public sentiment & clamour, there is something very wrong.
We need a bit of sanity & realism. What can & should the NHS & Medics do or not do? At what point do we say we cannot do any more based on an informed appraisal of the quality of that life? The conversation needs to be had in a calm & unemotional way - Soon.
Sunday 29 April 2018
Tuesday 17 April 2018
Diamonds are Forever?
I have a very small diamond pendant which I'm very fond of. (I'm no Liz Taylor though!) I thought I had lost it this week when I took it off at the Osteopaths. After an initial slight panic when I took it out of my pocket at home & only found the open chain, then doing everything I could do find it to no avail, I accepted that it had gone out into the Universe. All you can hope is that someone finds it who needs it more than you do.
Then the Universe gave it back to me - Amazing! It had rolled under a door draught excluder & then worked it's way free. I found it in the evening.
The thing is, I'm trying, in my mature years, to accept that I actually own nothing. I am the temporary custodian of lots of things, none of which can be taken with me when I die. Similarly, but more difficult to do - people. Friends & family are with you for a while & then may depart for one reason or another. (My friends have started dying). You can give love, but you can't expect anything in return - Not at all easy I have to say.
Impermanence and Change is the Buddhist way. The Second Noble Truth is that "Desire and attachment are the causes of unsatisfactoriness and suffering". I really don't have too much trouble not being attached to things. So although I was sad about the diamond, I could cope with it's loss.
It's very different with people. Most of us want to be liked & loved. Most of are "attached" to someone & have expectations about the way they will behave towards us. Very few of us can live without close relationships. The loss of a family member or friend does cause real suffering.
http://www.sapphyr.net/buddhist/buddhist-core.htm
Somehow I don't think that I will live long enough to be able to be a good Buddhist - I will do my best though.
Then the Universe gave it back to me - Amazing! It had rolled under a door draught excluder & then worked it's way free. I found it in the evening.
The thing is, I'm trying, in my mature years, to accept that I actually own nothing. I am the temporary custodian of lots of things, none of which can be taken with me when I die. Similarly, but more difficult to do - people. Friends & family are with you for a while & then may depart for one reason or another. (My friends have started dying). You can give love, but you can't expect anything in return - Not at all easy I have to say.
Impermanence and Change is the Buddhist way. The Second Noble Truth is that "Desire and attachment are the causes of unsatisfactoriness and suffering". I really don't have too much trouble not being attached to things. So although I was sad about the diamond, I could cope with it's loss.
It's very different with people. Most of us want to be liked & loved. Most of are "attached" to someone & have expectations about the way they will behave towards us. Very few of us can live without close relationships. The loss of a family member or friend does cause real suffering.
http://www.sapphyr.net/buddhist/buddhist-core.htm
Somehow I don't think that I will live long enough to be able to be a good Buddhist - I will do my best though.
Wednesday 11 April 2018
Bullies, Bullying and Syria
I was born in January 1945. The 2nd World War ended on September 2nd. My mother was German & my father was British. I was given a very unusual, difficult to spell & even more difficult to say Christian name, which was unusual in Germany never mind in post war England. I didn't have a second name.
When I started Primary school the head teacher said I couldn't be called Waldtraut in school. She chose the name Sylvia for me. Goodness knows why. Of course any children who lived in my street knew that wasn't my name.
I was tall for my age, I wore green glasses because I was very shortsighted. I was different, so I was bullied. I think it was more verbal than physical. I wasn't "in"- part of any group. In grammar school they did use my given name, so I was myself again, but I was given a nickname by the children - Wally. I'm not sure I would call how I felt as being bullied, I did still feel different, an outsider. But I gained confidence & became a House captain & senior prefect eventually.
By the time I went on to college in London I was ready to find out who I was. The person I am today was shaped by a difficult childhood in which I learned to stand up for myself & not to be cowed by other people. Earlier on that meant I didn't always behave assertively rather than emotionally & too aggressively. Now I am much more Zen like, but I am assertive. I know my own value & I know my values.
I have learned that you are bullied if you behave like a frightened victim. I have learned that there are people who enjoy bullying & tormenting others. (Oddly they are usually deeply insecure people). I have learned that if you don't take a stand, the bullying will continue. At some point you are the one who has to somehow stop the bully in his or her tracks. You have to have courage & know that what is happening is not right.
My story is because of what is happening in Syria. The regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons on their own people:-
It makes me sick to the stomach that these bullies have got away with this for 5 years. I'm not a politician. I have no power at all. But I do know that the bullying will not stop, in Syria or anywhere else, unless good people not only say enough is enough, but do something about it. Actions are what matter in a scenario like this - Words are not enough, or women & children will continue to suffer & die in really dreadful ways. If we do nothing we are complicit in that.
The Bullies are threatening what amounts to war if the West bombs the aircraft & chemical weapons stores. They are Bullies - we have to stand up to them at some point or they will continue. We have to call their bluff. The Red Line has been crossed too often.
When I started Primary school the head teacher said I couldn't be called Waldtraut in school. She chose the name Sylvia for me. Goodness knows why. Of course any children who lived in my street knew that wasn't my name.
I was tall for my age, I wore green glasses because I was very shortsighted. I was different, so I was bullied. I think it was more verbal than physical. I wasn't "in"- part of any group. In grammar school they did use my given name, so I was myself again, but I was given a nickname by the children - Wally. I'm not sure I would call how I felt as being bullied, I did still feel different, an outsider. But I gained confidence & became a House captain & senior prefect eventually.
By the time I went on to college in London I was ready to find out who I was. The person I am today was shaped by a difficult childhood in which I learned to stand up for myself & not to be cowed by other people. Earlier on that meant I didn't always behave assertively rather than emotionally & too aggressively. Now I am much more Zen like, but I am assertive. I know my own value & I know my values.
I have learned that you are bullied if you behave like a frightened victim. I have learned that there are people who enjoy bullying & tormenting others. (Oddly they are usually deeply insecure people). I have learned that if you don't take a stand, the bullying will continue. At some point you are the one who has to somehow stop the bully in his or her tracks. You have to have courage & know that what is happening is not right.
My story is because of what is happening in Syria. The regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons on their own people:-
- Ghouta, Khan al Assal, Saraqib, Jobar, Ashrafiyat Sahnaya in 2013
- Talmenes in 2014
- Sarmin in 2015
- Uqairabat in 2016
- Khan Sheikhun in 2017
It makes me sick to the stomach that these bullies have got away with this for 5 years. I'm not a politician. I have no power at all. But I do know that the bullying will not stop, in Syria or anywhere else, unless good people not only say enough is enough, but do something about it. Actions are what matter in a scenario like this - Words are not enough, or women & children will continue to suffer & die in really dreadful ways. If we do nothing we are complicit in that.
The Bullies are threatening what amounts to war if the West bombs the aircraft & chemical weapons stores. They are Bullies - we have to stand up to them at some point or they will continue. We have to call their bluff. The Red Line has been crossed too often.
Monday 9 April 2018
Brain Drain? - Think it Through
Anyone who has tried meditation will know how difficult it is to still the thoughts which enter our minds all the time, unbidden & often unwelcome. We talk about "overthinking" things. We "dwell" on things. We are "lost in thought".
To an extent we are the prisoners of our thoughts & don't realise that our thoughts are just that, our own creation & not necessarily true or valid. The saying "the mind has a mind of it's own" reflects that, although we think we are rational & in control, we really aren't. Just try & think of nothing - you can't do it. If you are emotionally upset by something or someone, try stopping those thoughts. It's like sticking a finger in a dam that is coming apart.
So if we can't rely even on our own thoughts what can we rely on? Each one of us has been conditioned from birth by our parents, our friends & relatives & our teachers. Each one of those people was also conditioned in a similar way. So what we each individually think of as true & right thinking is dependent on the variables of all those different influences.
Maybe that is why world religions have taken hold universally over milennia. Maybe at some deep level wo/man realised that there needed to be a script that we could try to adhere to. Universal truths about how we should attempt to act throughout our lives.
What we have to do is try very hard not to listen to the scripts of the evil doers among us. I do believe there is evil. I do believe there are people who have lost their way completely. They are capable of all the sins against humanity & the world we live in.
Mans inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds at the moment in every country. It would be easy to "think" that these people are in the ascendant & can't be stopped. That is only true if we, the people, let them. We really need to listen carefully for the truth as opposed to misinformation & propaganda. Then we need to consider carefully what action to take & take it in a measured & proportional way.
Newton's Third Law - "For every action there is an equal & opposite reaction" - We should understand that in regard to our own behaviour & that of others & also realise that there is always a choice & always a middle way.
We each, individually, need to be brave & start really using the wonderful instrument we have been given - The Brain.
To an extent we are the prisoners of our thoughts & don't realise that our thoughts are just that, our own creation & not necessarily true or valid. The saying "the mind has a mind of it's own" reflects that, although we think we are rational & in control, we really aren't. Just try & think of nothing - you can't do it. If you are emotionally upset by something or someone, try stopping those thoughts. It's like sticking a finger in a dam that is coming apart.
So if we can't rely even on our own thoughts what can we rely on? Each one of us has been conditioned from birth by our parents, our friends & relatives & our teachers. Each one of those people was also conditioned in a similar way. So what we each individually think of as true & right thinking is dependent on the variables of all those different influences.
Maybe that is why world religions have taken hold universally over milennia. Maybe at some deep level wo/man realised that there needed to be a script that we could try to adhere to. Universal truths about how we should attempt to act throughout our lives.
What we have to do is try very hard not to listen to the scripts of the evil doers among us. I do believe there is evil. I do believe there are people who have lost their way completely. They are capable of all the sins against humanity & the world we live in.
Mans inhumanity to man seems to know no bounds at the moment in every country. It would be easy to "think" that these people are in the ascendant & can't be stopped. That is only true if we, the people, let them. We really need to listen carefully for the truth as opposed to misinformation & propaganda. Then we need to consider carefully what action to take & take it in a measured & proportional way.
Newton's Third Law - "For every action there is an equal & opposite reaction" - We should understand that in regard to our own behaviour & that of others & also realise that there is always a choice & always a middle way.
We each, individually, need to be brave & start really using the wonderful instrument we have been given - The Brain.
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