The Patriot Post® · Why Dr. Emanuel's Death Column Matters

Victor Davis Hanson: “Normally, no one would care that … 57-year-old Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel argued that living to be 75 years old was long enough for anyone. … But Emanuel is no garden-variety crackpot. Nor is he a wannabe science-fiction writer dreaming of a centrally planned planet of robust youthful humanoids. Unfortunately, he was one of the chief architects of the troubled Affordable Care Act and a key medical advisor to the Obama administration. … Age is no absolute barometer. We all know those who at 75 are far more vigorous than others who are couch potatoes at 40. If Emanuel’s point is that living beyond 75 is unwise given the odds that society will reap less achievement per resources invested, then that frightening anti-humanist argument can be extended to almost any category. … [T]he greatest tragedy in my life was the far too early death of my mother at 67 – at precisely the point when our family most needed her omnipresence, caring and sage counsel. Who knows – had Dr. Emanuel been asked to help draft an Affordable Care Act in his mid-70s, we might not have had to collectively suffer from his youthful inexperience.”