Great Britain is suffering from a healthcare crisis far more severe than in the States, which is forcing them to make difficult choices concerning the allocation of resources. There are two diverse views held firmly by two diverse populations:
- cutting costs by withholding care (elderly and chronically ill are expendable), and
- standing firm for the dignity of human life, no matter the cost.
The bulk of any population, though, is in the mushy middle -- being torn by limited finances, a decent sense of filial piety, but also confused by the intense physical suffering that some endure, especially later in life.
That is where this priest, Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith, indicates that a radical shift is necessary so that we don't wander into some black hole of utilitarian horror.
But here is the crunch – if we want to look after our old people well, then it is going to cost us something. The price may not necessarily be one in money. The institutionalisation of old people needing care is very expensive, but there is an alternative – care in the home by members of the family. Most people I speak to think that is preferable: being in the home, not in a “home”; being looked after by your nearest and dearest, not by strangers who are paid to do so. But for this to happen, quite a few social and economic changes would have to take place. Family life would have to change: we would have to move away from more and more people living alone, towards more people living together, particularly in three generational family groups. It would mean more people working in the home and not out of it, and rewarding and valuing such work accordingly.
There are costs and benefits to both home care and collective care. Any caregiver can tell of the burdens, and even the burnout. While nursing homes may have a better standard of delivering meds and meals, these settings are often sterile and deficient in other ways. And both homes and institutions are prone to abuses of all sorts, depending on who is in charge.
What he's talking about, though, is a change in culture. The two "ends of life" -- childhood and old age -- depend on women and how they arrange family life. Many children and old people are "warehoused" so that women can work -- interestingly enough, to pay for their care (through tuitions, fees or taxes). Honestly speaking, as strained as some familial relations are, working any shift is more appealing than having to deal with some people on a daily, hourly basis. But that's where the faith comes in.
We cannot change what happened decades ago, but we can work on our response in the here and now. One must forgive, and learn to love again -- even the unrepentant, those difficult to love, even the most demanding. Truth be told, they touch our buttons, so we must eradicate our buttons. Forgiveness will change the world, and will offer a better life for these families. Sounds impossible, but we must begin -- and we have to consider it now during this economic challenge, because these necessities may land on our doorstep sooner, rather than later.
Shameless plug: I give workshops on forgiveness, and am available to speak anywhere. gskineke [at] gmail [dot] com) -- wouldn't Lent be a great time for me to talk to your women's group?
Comments
“People have realized that the complete removal of the feminine element from the Christian message is a shortcoming from an anthropological viewpoint. It is theologically and anthropologically important for woman to be at the center of Christianity."
This is just another of the unintended consequences of the cultural acceptance of contraception and abortion! Men's sexuality has been robbed of its creative essence. It is now viewed as something that imposes a burden on women (when conception happens to occur), something used to control women or something that is purely recreational. Why would men bother?? In taking away their responsibility, we've also robbed them of their significance! In the big picture of humanity, men have been made into nothing more than a nuisance women have to figure out how to control in order to bring about the next generation. Men don't see it as their task to protect the vulnerable because they see themselves as the vulnerable ones. A few well preserved vials of sperm would make men entirely obsolete in the world's ethos today!!
That is astounding Robin, and good for you for standing up. At the heart of that matter, I think, is even worse than a gender mixing message. There is an increased sharper and sharper focus on the "self." Solid Catholic teaching returns our focus away from ourselves to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The original sin, Eve denied her womanhood when she desired to be like "gods." Since the only god she knew was the Father. Where was Adam? He stood impotent... in other words, they were divorced. There's a young girl at Robin's son's high school who was just told that she is the center of the universe and it's a tragic disservice to her.
Ditto what Mary said! A lot of high schools have very poor math and science depts, for boys and girls. I also am educated as a chemical engineer, but chose to teach the two years before we had children because its hours were more suited to spending time with children. (I was looking ahead). When it came time and I was pregnant with our first, I realized that I did not want to leave him with someone else, and was able to stay home full time. I am not sure it would have been that easy if we were used to another engineering income and not just a private school teacher income. Also some of my first job offers were out on oil rigs - I had no interest in that at all even though I enjoyed my engineering classes and did well in them. No one discouraged me from an engineering job, on the contrary I got a lot of flack for my decision not to pursue an engineering career.
I've been lurking, but this is one that irritates me. Beats the heck out of me what these "barriers" are. I was educated as a chemical engineer, where 1/3 of our class was women. However, in electrical engineering, only 1 or 2 out of 30 were women. Is it possible that women are Just Not Interested in some areas? Nah, it must be The Man keeping us down so we must legislate (and, I agree -- when they say "legistlate", I hear "quota"). And actually, I have a friend that was also a chemical engineer. When she lost her job, she decided not to go back into engineering and started working from home so she could spend more time with her 3 kids. Also, if nothing else, there are all kinds of incentives for women to enter science and engineering -- scholarships not available to men, guaranteed housing on campuses that do not guarantee housing to the general population, etc. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that schools in general are not preparing students for the hard sciences. It is truly a sad state of affairs, the lack of science education these days.