Value of a human life = another human life?
National Review responds to a recent proposal in Nature:
The editors of Nature are well aware that this proposal might seem a little ghoulish, and they have two suggestions for making it seem less so. The first is that “death” be redefined. The law currently treats someone as dead if he has experienced an “irreversible cessation” either of all the functions of the brain or of both the circulatory and respiratory systems. These tests indicate that the person can no longer function as an integrated organism. Since people can pass those tests without, in the editors’ view, “being alive in any meaningful sense,” and since those people can be sources of working organs, the editorial proposes changing the definition. It does not specify what the new definition should be, but it is clear that the direction of the change should be toward relaxation. Problem solved: Fresh organs can now be removed from a patient deemed to be dead, and the procedure can’t, by (new) definition, kill anyone.
Existing law does not prohibit anyone from writing a living will which effects exactly what Nature suggests—for himself. What does not follow is that because a man can freely decide to do a good thing on his own, the state should force people to do the same act—the same way law does not require me to save someone from danger even though it would be virtuous of me to do.
But then, I guess to liberal academics, there is little difference between an act of kindness brought by compassion and voluntary will and a beneficial act enforced by the state. Just remember. This is supposed to be humor, not real life:
Thoroughbreds May Be as Fast as They'll Ever Be
This week, two top contenders for the Derby, Quality Road and Square Eddie, were forced out of the race due to hoof and shin injuries.
Critics claim selective breeding may be producing an unstable horse anatomy that is prone to injury. Yet, a recent study claims that it all may be for naught, as thoroughbreds may have already reached their theoretical upper limits of speed.
...
One reason for the limit may be the gene pool. Today's thoroughbreds descend from a lineage of only 12-29 ancestors, with 95 percent of today's thoroughbreds tracing their paternal roots to a single stallion, The Darley Arabian.
Denny suggests that breeding from outside this line might produce the potential for improvement.
Clearly Nature has made a mistake. Nature has produced defective horses. Let us fix her mistakes. Let us race genetically engineered, superior, perfect horses. Let us create a master race ... of horses.