The Law, Moral Judgement & Your Life: When Push Comes To Shove, What Do You Really Value When The State Gets In The Way?

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It is actually the case that the medical profession in this country refuses to recognise it's existence despite the fact that many people we have come across along our journey are suffers themselves.

This topic is far too emotional, broad and important to attempt to really tackle in a Friday night post but I wanted to raise it as context for my most recent meandering thoughts.

Next week we are going to a medical practitioner for what is labelled as "experimental" treatment at great cost. We are lucky to have found this MD as this service is not widely offered, especially in Australia and what's more we're fortunate to be able to afford it.

The horror I've had to endure watching the permanent... and I mean permanent... agony of a loved one is something that can't be adequately communicated using language and it got me thinking of what extents people would go to for the really important issues in life.

So... what if the solution to a major health issue or the way to otherwise secure the well being of yourself or someone you love came via breaking the law or came at the cost of someone else? Would stealing money to pay for a necessary surgery be a bad or a good thing? Does your answer change based on who the money is stolen from? Maybe. A little granny would miss the money more than corrupt banking institution (who probably stole it from the granny in the first place).

Would you act to protect your family? What would that say about you? Maybe that'd make you noble, to position yourself against any obstacle that impedes the well being of those you treasure. Maybe it'd make you immoral, compromising on standards because you see a need to.

These are all somewhat academic questions when sitting at home looking at a computer monitor and the answers are likely to seem black and white to some extent. Having seen real suffering however, my answers may not be that palatable.

I don't think I'm all that different to anyone else in this regard. Necessity makes for unconventional actions and, personally, I'd be a shadow of a man to allow the state to impose restrictions on my loved ones ability to free themselves of pain.

See we're not geared to making such decisions in day to day life. We blindly for the most part follow the rules imposed by the state thinking that laws and morals are synonymously (stupidly in my opinion). We all must have our line however.

Take "the walking dead" for example. A hypothetical but a good example of how the civility of structured society breaks down given certain circumstances.

Cannabis is a good example too. A well established mood improving and pain reducing agent that is not legal to own or use. Should good people suffer in agony to appease the state?

What about euthanasia? I watched my grandmother's body fail while her mind remained sharp. I recall vividly her saying to me when in palliative care "I only hope that when you get to this stage you will have more choices than I have". How does your heart not crumble at that?

The state is arguably the poorest benchmark for what is moral and good. Why are we so willing to accept it as the arbiter of such? This is a topic close to my heart and I only want to provoke dispassionate thought among the community.

Would breaking the law or cheating another be justified in some scenarios? Are our loved ones more entitled than the guy in the street?

Thanks, as always, for your interest and I look forward to your (varied I'm sure) comments!