Darkover
Illuminated
- Jul 29, 2021
- 3,823
Here in the UK assisted dying is illegal
A totalitarian government does not allow access to assisted dying
A lot of people want to believe that if they had 'been there', in Nazi Germany for example, they would have resisted. They would have risked their lives to help ordinary people escape a murderous totalitarian government.
But as far as I know, the majority of people either complied, looked the other way, and let it happen, or were themselves active agents in the atrocities of that regime. Remember also the extent of the government propaganda at that time. I find it unlikely that most regular people were fully aware of what was going on and/or why it was so indefensible.
This isn't to say that none of you would have stood up to the government. If you have ever said "no" to a policeman who was pointing a gun at you, or if you have ever knowingly committed a capital crime in order to save someone's life, you may well have had the courage to be a resister. But if you have never been in that kind of situation, how can you know what you would have done? We don't live under that kind of political system, and I don't think we can really imagine how afraid people were.
A totalitarian government does not allow access to assisted dying
A lot of people want to believe that if they had 'been there', in Nazi Germany for example, they would have resisted. They would have risked their lives to help ordinary people escape a murderous totalitarian government.
But as far as I know, the majority of people either complied, looked the other way, and let it happen, or were themselves active agents in the atrocities of that regime. Remember also the extent of the government propaganda at that time. I find it unlikely that most regular people were fully aware of what was going on and/or why it was so indefensible.
This isn't to say that none of you would have stood up to the government. If you have ever said "no" to a policeman who was pointing a gun at you, or if you have ever knowingly committed a capital crime in order to save someone's life, you may well have had the courage to be a resister. But if you have never been in that kind of situation, how can you know what you would have done? We don't live under that kind of political system, and I don't think we can really imagine how afraid people were.