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Yale University professor Yusuke Narita is suggesting mass suicide for elderly people in Japan, according to a report by the New York Times. The professor is now backtracking, claiming that his in-depth discussion of mass suicide is “an abstract metaphor.”
“I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” Narita, an assistant professor of economics at Yale. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?”
Last year, after being asked to elaborate on his mass suicide ideas, Narita suggested it could be a “good thing” to “work hard toward creating a society” like the one depicted in the 2019 horror film Midsommar, in which a Swedish cult has elderly members of its community commit suicide by jumping off a cliff.
He also has discussed euthanasia, predicting that the “possibility of making it mandatory in the future” will become part of the public discourse. Newsweek Japan columnist Masato Fujisaki said Narita’s supporters “believed old people should just die already and social welfare should be cut.”
Some fear that Narita’s views are gaining traction in a country where older generations have traditionally been honored.
originally posted by: Turquosie
I think euthanasia should be legal. Especially for those suffering from illnesses. However, it's pretty messed up to actually encourage suicide lol.
We should have systems set up that allow people to die peacefully for those that do not want to prolong the death process. It makes no sense to forbid suicide and force people to live out a life of suffering.
originally posted by: DeathisNothingnew
a reply to: nugget1
Speaking with experience coming from the side that dosed Naloxone (Narcan) increasingly throughout my career, I can say this isnt a lie. I also wouldnt recommend that be the pathway, but then again im not for assisted suicide anyways FWIW.
Last year, after being asked to elaborate on his mass suicide ideas, Narita suggested it could be a “good thing” to “work hard toward creating a society” like the one depicted in the 2019 horror film Midsommar, in which a Swedish cult has elderly members of its community commit suicide by jumping off a cliff.
originally posted by: MykeNukem
a reply to: infolurker
The last part about this gaining traction is downright chilling.
You can tell a lot about a society by how they treat what should be their revered elders.