Bring On the Suicide Booths

I know a secret. It's an ugly secret. The US is engaged in the practice of Eugenics. Specifically we are killing, through exposure and neglect, our excess population. The Greeks and Romans would "expose" babies born with defects on cold nights. They would put visibly deformed children out in the weather where cold and/or scavengers would kill them. This practice continues to this day in some parts of the world although people are reluctant to admit it. The US does this to it's "homeless" population. We push them out of available shelter in the hopes that they will die.

Let's be absolutely clear; there is shelter available. In the US there is likely a vacant bedroom for every single homeless person in the nation in housing already built for the rental market or for sale. There are tens of millions of "second homes." There are millions of permanently vacant hotel and motel rooms. There are fleets of boats and motor homes that have "live-aboard" capability. We just refuse to make these resources available for people who don't have access to sufficient cash money.

Homelessness kills. It's a death sentence as sure as some cancers. More so than prostate cancer. Without access to regular shelter and hygiene people die in far higher numbers than comparable populations. This has been proven in multiple studies by epidemiologists controlled for drug and alcohol abuse, presence or lack of various illnesses and other such factors. Preventing people from having regular shelter kills a fat percentage of them. (google your own damn cites you lazy bastard, ok check the footnotes)

We do this on purpose. OK not you, or maybe your small circle of friends but unless you have somebody living rent-free in your garage you are part of the problem. You, too, refuse to shelter these people. You're an Eugenicist just like the Nazi's. You pretend, like good Germans of the 1940's, that everything is ok when your eyes tell you it's not. Constantly dirty people with teeth falling out and open sores aren't going to live long sleeping on concrete. Call it a wild guess.

Add another factor; a huge number of newly employed people are about to lose their benefits. A certain percentage of these people will end up with post-traumatic stress disorder and for all economic purposes be useless as potential employees. Another huge chunk already have addictions and borderline mental illnesses that will become full on cases due to stress. It's a surplus population that isn't going away and we aren't going to find tax money to support.

Why not let them die? We aren't going to support them. Our elites say nasty things about chronically unemployed or they say nice things but refuse to provide the means for minimal needs. We expect them to die if they don't get better. We just don't admit it. Let's give them a break.

Let's build some (ok lots) suicide booths. A recurrent feature in science fiction dramas from Star Trek to the cartoon, Futurama, the idea of suicide booths refuses to go away. Because it's more humane than forcing somebody to sleep on a steam grate until they can catch an appropriate virus. Because it would be cheaper. Because it would be cleaner. Because it would be kinder. Because it WOULD BE MORE HONEST.

OK, there is the problem that somebody YOU care about might make use of one but what's that say about your care of loved ones? Maybe we would take better care of the people in our lives if we knew they had other options than to put up with your shit. Maybe employers would fear the loss of training investments just that little bit more. Maybe families would give weird Uncle Bob that extra call every month. Maybe some of the folks in nursing homes are tired of being left alone.

Finally, in keeping with the theme of this blog; we have a few excess humans on this planet. About five or six billion extra if you ask some biologists. While reductions in birth rates can temper that number an increase in death rate is the only way to bring the human population in balance with the ecosphere. While we're doing a great job of promoting War, Famine and Pestilence deaths are just not keeping up with births. Offering people a clean and painless exit can't hurt matters.

Finally, I'll take the first booth for a test drive. I have a chronic pain problem and the US medical hash-up has no interest in helping it. I'm offered Zombie pills and a firm boot to the curb, thank you. Nobody's going to pay me for writing this shit. As far as our corporate masters are concerned I'm surplus meat waiting to die. Or worse, a subversive who spreads the word that there are alternatives to their game.

I don't really expect to see suicide booths in the near future. I also don't expect that we will be honest about dealing with these people. We're going to punt. Again.

Because we punt on everything these days.

What happens the day all these balls drop?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_booth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
http://www.euvolution.com/articles/ancient.htm
http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Population.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide
The Nine Stages of American Autogenocide (http://www.whale.to/b/crow.html)
*http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Z7RgB-ARGT8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=homeless+eugenics+&ots=uXoQUivoA2&sig=w5cqAqPVVaYV80IXC4LEnA8jHPE
http://www.informaworld.com/index/713662815.pdf
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=info:mxcZrwTnxqUJ:scholar.google.com/&output=viewport&pg=1&hl=en