America recently witnessed a spectacle. No occurrence in recent memory evoked the emotion and controversy that culminated in the death on March 31, 2005, of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed by court order. During the final weeks of her life, the nation focused on every nuance of the melodrama. Before its conclusion, the event metastasized into a crisis as virtually every medical and judicial expert, political leader, and media personality became involved. The nationwide obsession heightened as the viewing public chose sides. Never before did so many powerful elements converge on an incident representing little more than a family dispute over a few hundred thousand dollars.
Amidst the controversy, and despite the differences of opinion expressed, often vehemently, three fundamental pronouncements gained acceptance as unquestionable truths. As is often the case, matters universally embraced are most suspect, just as the worst laws enacted are invariably those passed without opposition. Let me rectify each of these pronouncements.
Pronouncement I: The death of anyone is a tragedy.
Reality I: Actually, death is the final and inevitable consequence of birth. With America's population approaching three hundred million, and a typical 75-year lifespan comprising 27,375 days, approximately 11,000 persons die in this country each day. Rather than a multitude of tragedies, many of those deaths represent the natural culmination of life and come as a welcome relief to the decedent as well as to family and friends.
Pronouncement II: Prior written instructions of a person in a persistent vegetative state constitute the determining factor on whether to sustain life support.
Reality II: Regardless of dogma to the contrary, a human life reduced to perpetual bodily function, but devoid of mental awareness, ceases to be life in any meaningful form. The proper determining factor in providing life support should be its probable restorative outcome.
Pronouncement III: No monetary value can be placed on a human life.
Reality III: Throughout the history of mankind, the reverse has been true. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the military service, an organization dedicated to killing people. It cost Caesar 75 cents to kill a man, the estimated expenditure per enemy dead for the support of the Roman armies. The war machine of Napoleon almost bankrupted France as the per capita cost of slaying rose substantially. With the Napoleonic wars' cost at $6.25 billion and the slain totaling 2.1million, the outlay came to just under $3,000 per man. The $180 billion expense of the First World War, resulting in 8,538,315 deaths, brought the cost of a life to a bit over $21,000. Finally, with the expensive equipment and support required by today's fighting forces, dollar cost per resultant death remains a vital factor in national policy. And you may be certain that in the civilian sector, a similar consideration is given regularly to the value of a human life.
Let's now descend into the realm of how the system really works. Modern medical technology is sufficiently sophisticated to sustain bodily functions for many years beyond that possible just a generation ago. There are, of course, practical considerations. As two examples, both Rose Kennedy, mother of the senior senator from Massachusetts, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek, widow of the one-time ruler of Taiwan, managed to live to their 106th birthdays. Most likely, only the resources of the Kennedy fortune and the Taiwanese government made that possible. Of course, what is available for persons of such prominence will not be shared with retired scullery maid Jane Doe. If extraordinary measures are required to prolong her life, they may not be forthcoming. I say may not rather than will not, for circumstances vary. As a case in point, I know one woman of nonexistent means who is currently sustained on life support. Essentially blind and paralyzed while attached to breathing and feeding tubes these past eleven years, this 93-year-old woman persists. Thanks to a knowledgeable attorney who arranged the transfer of all family assets to a trust vested with her husband, the annual six-figure cost to sustain her is paid by Medicaid. It's likely that other persons of modest means take advantage of similar machinations. However, if such abuses of the system become rampant, the practice will grind to a halt. Despite the illusion that government is a bottomless pocket, it is not. There is a limit, untested as yet, beyond which funds will not be available. Irrespective of rumors to the contrary, money is a finite substance.
This finally gets us to the question posed by this article's title: What is the value of a heartbeat? I'll offer a prediction. With each successive year medical technology will become more innovative and expensive; the aging American population will become less robust; and governmental resources will, despite innovative ways to increase taxes, dissipate due to entitlement payments. For this reason, permitting lives to terminate will become more acceptable. Actually, the cataclysmic demise of Terri Schiavo was an anomaly. Had the episode not been conducted in a public forum, she would have been permitted to pass on quietly years ago, as are thousands of persons each day in hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices. And if the nation's economy further deteriorates, the authorities might even release Jack Kevorkian from prison so that he can resume his avocation.
© 2004-5 Al Jacobs. All rights reserved.
About Al Jacobs »
Al Jacobs has been a professional investor for nearly four decades. His business experience ranges from real estate, mortgage, and securities investment to appraisal, civil engineering, and the operation of a private trust company. In addition to managing his investments on a day-to-day basis, he is a featured financial columnist for both online and print publications. He is the author of Nobody's Fool: A Skeptic's Guide to Prosperity. You may subscribe to his financial Newsletter, "On the Money Trail," at no cost or obligation, by visiting www.onthemoneytrail.com.
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