“Even more stringent benefit cuts are on the cards.” “Ministers are planning billions in cuts to disability benefits.” “the House of Lords economic affairs committee said this might not be enough.”
FFS just legalise euthanasia already. I’d rather get a quick injection than starve to death out on the streets. Even the Nazis were kinder to the disabled, gassing them to death quickly.
My brother made a good point that they won’t legalize euthanasia (in particular for mental ill ess like depression) because they’re afraid too many people will decide to take that option, especially as capitalism continues to fail. Too many people taking that option means nobody to clean toilets for the rich, as the dumbass Ozzy Osbourne daughter put it
CW: Suicide, Involuntary institutionalization
I had the shower thought today after thinking about involuntary institutionalization that in the US a lot of this mental health awareness is just something they do to keep people from killing themselves. If I call the national suicide hotline they’ll send some cops to my door that may kill me instead, but they may also just take me to the hospital where I’m then locked up and forbidden from many basic rights until they “fix” me. The time I voluntary had myself committed was one of the worst things I ever did and I still carry trauma from it a decade later.
CW: suicide
spoiler
What you described is my worst nightmare. Really sorry you had to go through that. I’m in Canada but even at my worst moments I never even let my doctors or therapist have even the suggestion that I was suicidal. I don’t know what the best strategy is to deal with people having a mental health crisis but personally getting institutionalized would probably drive me insane. The other thing that comes to mind is that so much mental illness is caused by capitalism ie rent, low wages, poverty. All issues national governments seem to have no interest in addressing. Papering over the cracks is their method of choice.