ABSTRACT
Chapter 10, the last of the book, opens with a brief overview of the Nazi killing of the mentally ill in the Aktion T4 program. It thus lays the groundwork for understanding how certain people with incurable mental illnesses might become the targets of voluntary and perhaps involuntary euthanasia, not that the line between the two types is clear. The chapter proceeds to note the general increase in life expectancy, the global lowering of birthrates, and the so-called “dementia time bomb.” It raises the possibility that people with dementia, whose care might become increasingly difficult to pay for with a diminishing pool of labor, might be susceptible to dubious forms of euthanasia. This concern comports with many of the cultural images of the elderly as “unpopular luggage,” to employ W.H. Auden’s poetic language. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the social meaning of gray mist killing.
