Dead like the Kessler twins? What I learned about myself

I want to die. Of course not immediately. I’m fine, honestly. Thanks for asking! But “In the long run we will all die”economist John Maynard Keynes already knew it. And I wanted to share my opinion on my death, although unfortunately no one knows whether you can still share your opinion if things get really serious.

It’s about important questions like self-determination and human dignity, which, of all people, the Kessler twins now remind me of after his death. The identical siblings were once akin to Heidi Klum, only more sophisticated and less loud: an elegant export product of the postwar German republic. At some point I lost sight of him until news came of his “public” death.

Since 2020, suicide has new regulations

“Assisted suicide” That is what it means today – and this was expressly permitted by the Federal Constitutional Court five years ago. Suicide here is bound by clear rules. Spontaneous depression alone is not enough. But you no longer have to prove that you are seriously ill.

Alice and Ellen Kessler were 89 years old. And I can imagine what that means and why they decided to take matters into their own hands under medical supervision. It’s also about independence.

Doctor Hendrik Streeck recently recommended, in connection with the death of his own father, that from certain stages of the disease onwards, you should no longer do anything that may still be medically possible, but very expensive and, above all, very expensive. no longer useful. Even his CDU party friends immediately attacked him, as if they wanted to push all the pensioners into the floating ice floe in the North Sea.

Is “Long Life” really desirable?

Streeck doesn’t want to cut corners on patients. But he wants his patients Heunless treated to death in ways that often only prolong the suffering. That also has something to do with it false incentives in the health system to do. But most importantly: I think we have forgotten how to live with death.

Nowadays people talk about “longevity” everywhere, as if it were the dream of humanity to live to at least 150 years of age. Death continues, but it’s not just the city’s residents has long been considered taboo. We need to talk about it more because this is still going to be a big debate for us as a society.

The reason: We Baby Boomers, the generation with the highest birth rate in the Republic, are gradually retiring. Many of us grow old happily or never wake up one morning. Happy! But it is also evolving Possible need for long-term care, cancer and dementia.

I experienced all this with relatives and friends. Also how society changed to fixed rates in a very short time. That’s not good.

Not every operation brings improvement

I understand when someone clings to life. Then of course nothing is too expensive. But I also understand when someone says that they don’t want to burden themselves or others with their own suffering and pain.

Statistics tell me, as well as you, that health care costs more in the late fall phase of our lives than in previous decades. I don’t want to just save work, stress, and costs, but also my family and country.

Assisted suicide costs 4,000 euros, which I now learn from the case of the Kessler twins. Many cancer therapies are now available for only six figures – annually. And at best they promise relief. That’s nothing to me. For you?

You may notice: You rarely feel self-conscious when you ask this question. So why shouldn’t I decide on that?