The Obsolete Man and The Throw Away Culture

Utilitarian Approach to human life…  In the Utilitarian approach, it's all about "What have you done for me lately, and what can you still do for me?" For example, "John" has value to society because he can hunt and provide food, "Joan" is a doctor and can heal people. "Jean," on the other hand, is 87 and ill. Since Jean is no longer of any utility to the group, and will most likely drain even more and more resources, Jean is of less value. It's time to let Jean die...perhaps even encourage her to do so.

Ultilitarian View Of Human Life in ‘Obsolete Man’ (Hitler, Stalin) but their error was not one of excess. It was simply not going far enough. Too many undesirables were left around, and undesirables eventually form a core of resistance. 1.Old people clutch at the past and won't accept the new. 2.The sick, 3.the maimed, 4.the deformed, they fasten onto the healthy body and damage it, so we eliminate them. And people like yourself- they can perform no useful function for the state so we put an end to them.

Catholic Approach to human life…  The Catholic Church believes in intrinsic value.  Since a person is created in the image of God, they have value.  God became human in Jesus-Incarnation, therefore human life is uniquely sacred.  because of who and what they are, and not what they can do.  Every Human life is sacred and worthy of protection from conception to natural death.

Catholic vs. Utilitarian approach to Beginning of Life issues Contrasted…  This difference in approach is clearly seen by contrasting, say, Pete Singer of Princeton who states that a chicken is of more utility and therefore of more value to society than a newborn baby.  The Church, on the other hand, holds that the baby is worthy of protection from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.

“No Man is Obsolete”  Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of Man, that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under "M" for Mankind - in The Twilight Zone

“Throw Away Culture”  “The victims of this [throwaway] culture are precisely the weakest and most fragile human beings — the unborn, the poorest, the sick and elderly, the seriously handicapped, etc. — who are in danger of being ‘thrown away,’ expelled from a system that must be efficient at all costs.” Pope Francis– Speech to a delegation from the Dignitatis Humanae Institute Dec. 7, 2013