I think this comment generalizes too much. I do not think Europeans are all the same on this (and probably Asians too).
As an example I have the impression that what you wrote is true for Dutch people (I don't know if it's true but I've heard/read they are more on the side of making elderly people comfortable in their last moments rather than trying to treat them with expensive procedures).
While here in Greece we do try to prolong the life of even the most hopeless situations (that might be changing). It's not rare to have our elderly parents/grandparents bedridden at home for years.
Partly, I think that the culture is more affected by the lack of history than most people realize. If you've lived in Europe, and I'm sure elsewhere, you understand your mortality implicitly from the centuries-old buildings and streets. At least that's what I got out of it.
Doubt it, besides there aren't a lot of reasons for us all to not just casually choose death had it been for humans' innate fear of death, which I think is kind of good thing.
Yes, I went back to a country with socialized medicine where patients as well as doctors are still relatively courteous to each other. It was a huge relief to leave the US, professionally speaking. BTW, I don't really get why you're so riled up.
It's natural to be afraid. I'm afraid too, at times. But people are only willing to suffer so much. In this regard, US people offer an interesting contrast: they tend to view as normal not to suffer at all in routine care (minor surgery, for example), but are willing to accept an incredibly bad quality of life in desperate situations. In Europe for example, it tends towards the opposite. Again, I'm just one guy. YMMV.
I'm not paying my doctor to be a therapist or a rabbi. I am paying for the best medical care I can get - and if I want to prolong my life (in whatever condition), that's my choice.
When I hear "don't be afraid of death", that's not medical advice. Medical advice is "there's nothing I can do for you", which is fine, but I'm going to shop for a second opinion. Maybe a third.
For the record, I'm not afraid of death, I just want to postpone it for as long as possible. If medical technology allowed, I'd be very happy with "indefinitely".
> I'm not paying my doctor to be a therapist or a rabbi. I am paying for the best medical care I can get - and if I want to prolong my life (in whatever condition), that's my choice.
Not saying anything else.
> When I hear "don't be afraid of death"
Didn't say that either!?
You're assuming opinions, here. Also, 'healthy' life prolongation was not my point. There's a personal threshold for everyone where people just prefer dying. It can be lower or higher, and my observation is that it's heavily influenced by local culture.
I don't really have a comparative opinion about that. What I mean is that I've seen countless examples of US patients and docs willing to go to extremes of treatment that would be considered unreasonable elsewhere. But I was just a bloke in one big university hospital, so YMMV I guess. Still, the culture gap was pretty surprising.
