Medically Assisted Suicide: A Humane Choice or Ethical Dilemma?
Plus, understanding the demand for bitcoin
Ric Edelman: It's Tuesday, July 30th. On yesterday's show, it was all about people living longer than ever, but some, unfortunately, don't get that chance. So today, we're going to shift to medically assisted suicide. We have some news. Colorado is now the latest state to allow people to engage in this, the End-of-Life Options Act, it takes effect August 7th.
Colorado is now the 7th state in the last five years to pass a law that's based on the Oregon model. There are now 13 governors who publicly support medical aid in dying. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
All told, doctor assisted death is now legal in 10 states, and there are bills in 19 more. These bills typically allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults who have no more than six months to live to request prescriptions from their doctors for life-ending medication. Patient has to be the one who asks for the meds, they've got to be able to do it directly. And only the patient is the one who is to ingest the medicine on their own. Nobody can get the drugs for them. Nobody can administer the drugs for them. You've got to do this yourself.
In surveys across the country, more than 70% of Americans support these laws. And so far, more than 5,000 people have died this way. This is a really serious issue, and we all recognize the situation. Medical science has had incredible advances over the past century, and medicine has gotten really good at keeping people alive. The challenge, of course, is that all too often, people who are being kept alive through medical intervention are living lives of misery, extreme pain, discomfort, and simply lingering as their bodies slowly decay. We've seen issues ranging from ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, to Huntington's, to cancer. And whenever we come upon our beloved pet who has a terminal illness, we literally refer to it as, putting them out of their misery. And yet in many states, that's illegal because we believe in the sanctimony of life, we believe in the importance of doing whatever it takes to care for protect and extend life. But we are also now recognizing that sometimes the medical community is capable of extending our lives beyond the point that people themselves want their lives extended.
This is a hugely controversial issue and for all the right reasons. We need to recognize, however, that the science has advanced beyond the humanity in a great many cases. And so we need to recognize the significance of this. It was really interesting to see what happened in Colorado. This bill had been before the state legislature many times over many years, but this year, the bill passed. Why, suddenly, did Colorado approve the measure when it had said no in years past? The reason? Many are pointing to one particular state legislature who has now, in the past year, had a personal experience with this in his own family. And that changed his perspective. And unfortunately, that is what occurs all too often. It's easy for us, who are healthy, to dismiss the notion of medically assisted suicide. But when we start to see it happen to our own loved ones, or to ourselves, it's easy to see how this suddenly becomes something very personal.
It is clearly something that is happening all around the world. Other countries are even further along than the United States are, and we are, in many cases, engaging in catch up. That is certainly true in the 40 states where this law does not exist. And that's why we are expecting bills in these 19 states to advance. This is something you need to give a lot of serious thought to. You need to talk about this, not just with your physician, but also with your attorney, because if you have specific goals or desires regarding end of life, you need to have your preferences encoded in your estate planning documents. This is a routine element of estate planning, and you need to stipulate, should you be in such a situation, what is it you want the doctors to do? It's a routine element of estate planning, but it requires your proactive engagement and your signature on some documents. And then, you need to share those documents with your loved ones so that they all know what your personal preferences are. Life is getting a little more complicated, and perhaps, this is the best example of all.
Coming up next on the show, a question that I got from one of our listeners.
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Ric Edelman: Welcome back to The Truth About Your Future. Got a question from Peter of New York:
“I have serious doubts about bitcoin. For argument's sake, say I bought bitcoin. Ten years later, my $1,000 investment is worth $150,000. I decide to sell and no buyers are out there. Now what?”
Peter, Peter, Peter, wow, you're really overthinking this. You're also missing a huge point. If you invest $1,000, and it's later $150,000, and you sell, you're fearful that there would be no buyers. But if there were no buyers, then it wouldn't be $150,000 in the first place. I mean, think about it. All the capital markets, stocks, bonds, real estate, gold, oil, art, collectibles, bitcoin, you name it – all capital markets operate on the basis of supply and demand. The buyers and the sellers work together to set the price. If you see that an asset has a price of $150,000 that means that this is the price that the buyers and the sellers are mutually agreeing to pay and receive. Minus transaction costs. So, in your scenario, how could there be no buyers? The mere fact that bitcoin is $150,000 means there are buyers at that price. And that there are sellers at that price. Peter, Peter, Peter, you're overthinking this. And you're leading yourself into a vortex that you can't get out of. Best not to enter that vortex in the first place.
You can send me your question as well, just send it to AskRic@TheTruthAYF.com. The link is in the show notes.
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Ric Edelman: It's been a week since the spot Ethereum ETFs began trading. If someone asked you, what is Ethereum? Could you answer that question? If someone asked, what's the difference between Ethereum and bitcoin? Could you answer that question? Come on, enroll in my CBDA course and become Certified in Blockchain and Digital Assets. You'll get the content you need to be able to answer questions about crypto, to understand the investment thesis, how to construct a portfolio that uses crypto. You'll get it all from a world class faculty, including Scott Stornetta, the co-inventor of blockchain technology. And to celebrate the launch of the Ethereum ETFs, you get a 25% discount when you enroll in the course right now. The links in the show notes, use discount code ETH25. But hurry, this offer expires in less than two weeks. So enroll today.
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Ric Edelman: On tomorrow's show, does your family look like the Brady Bunch?
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Ric Edelman: I’m glad you’re with me here on The Truth About Your Future. If you like what you're hearing, be sure to follow and subscribe to the show, wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube – and remember leave a review on Apple podcasts. I read them all! Never miss an episode of The Truth About Your Future. Follow and subscribe on your favorite podcast app.
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