[geeks] Socialized medicine [was Re: nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro]

[Sridhar Ayengar]

Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
>> Fine, wait nine months and then ask the baby if it's OK with being
>> terminated - you are punishing the fetus for not yet having the powers
>> of cognition and communication. The woman's rights trump the baby's
>> because she can hit the "buzzer" first when the question is asked...
>>
>> I am not a fan of that logic...
> 
> It's the logic that puts roast in my oven and bacon next to your fried
> eggs.
> 
> If cows and pigs had the same degree of self-awareness that we do, do
> you think we'd slaughter them and serve them up?
> 
> The legal argument is that until a child develops that self-awareness,
> it's no-harm/no-foul to terminate its existence.  Without a
> consciousness, it may feel pain at some chemical level, but the
> experience will be even more limited than what we put our livestock
> through at the slaughterhouse.
> 
> If it's merely the capacity to develop that self-awareness that grants
> human rights, onanism should be a capital crime.

That leads back to the point I was making in my other email.

I consider it immoral to eat meat.  Do you know what I do about it?  I 
don't eat meat.

However, I also would consider it immoral on my part to judge you for 
eating meat.  To each his own.  My rights end at your nose.

Peace...  Sridhar