[Blarg]

Honestly I'm for pulling the plug. I think it's often merely selfishness disguised as caring for others(what if he LIKES being a vegetable?) that makes people prolong the misery of their family when their quality of life is minimal or even inarguably extremely negative. Dying is often sought by the old and infirm because life is not a good in itself, but a qualified good. If you've had your time on earth and extra days aren't adding anything to the equation, just hanging around in misery waiting for the end adds absolutely zero to your life's experience and may even degrade it to an extreme. Some people go through a lot of suffering and loneliness before they are finally allowed to die.

I'd wish as clean and timely a death on anyone as I'd wish on myself. I wouldn't want to live on being a burden and expense to my family while I was getting nothing out of life but a daily round of misery. All that "rage before the dying of the light" strikes me as crap.

I'm sure there are people who feel otherwise, but I feel the person who best knows when it's time to go is the ill person. And if he has dementia, his relatives and friends would or should know his wishes were he healthy enough to state them. This is a good reason for making a living will, so you can be eased out of your suffering instead of having ir multiply as the days pile up.

I'd hate to live life that way, or subject my family to having to see my misery and degradation and dragging them through it with me.

I'm not all that much in favor of the idea of pulling the plug the way we do now either. A person should be able to take a few pills and painlessly slip away in an hour or two.