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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
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Author:  J. J. Jackson
Bio: J. J. Jackson
Date:  August 8, 2009
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Grandma’s Run

In the movie adaptation of Nolan and Johnson’s novel “Logan’s Run” we visit a world that few think could possibly exist. The remaining bits of humanity that survived a great holocaust are locked up in a domed city where resources are scarce and that for the good of society they must submit to having their lives terminated at age thirty in order to keep the population sustainable. Or so they are told.

In the movie adaptation of Nolan and Johnson’s novel “Logan’s Run” we visit a world that few think could possibly exist. The remaining bits of humanity that survived a great holocaust are locked up in a domed city where resources are scarce and that for the good of society they must submit to having their lives terminated at age thirty in order to keep the population sustainable. Or so they are told.

In order to encourage people to willingly submit to this process the society has instituted a spectacle known as Carrousel. At Carrousel those who have reached the age of thirty are told that if they have obeyed the rules of society faithfully that they will be given a chance at Renewal and be reincarnated. As for those that do not meet these standards? Well, they are vaporized. No one has ever known anyone to actually be renewed however so the whole process is really just a big scam to see how many people will blindly follow the mandates set before them and how many will submit to the will of a maniacal society.

Not everyone blindly obeys these rules. Some disobey, refuse to have their lives taken and they seek out Sanctuary which is nothing more than the outside world and a world that is very capable of sustaining life and where the rules of mandatory termination at the age of thirty do not apply. So to enforce these rules agents of the government known as Sandmen are tasked with making sure that those who do not willingly submit to have their lives ended at the designated time are hunted down and killed. In essence the choice is a simple one for most, death by self-choice and a fanciful hope at rebirth or death by government force.

Quite a bizarre tale is it not? But like so many “bizarre tales” from Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” to George Orwell’s “1984” that people never thought could happen we see how elements of “Logan’s Run” are also creeping into our society just as elements of those other stories have as well. Seems that no fictitious tale about how to control the populace is all that “bizarre” when it comes to the political ideologies of the left.

Right now our government is in fact considering a bill that would give the government sweeping power over the health care of Americans. In that bill exists provisions for end of life counseling for the elderly who, if the truth must be known, tend to consume large portions of the available health care in America today and are a drain on the "sustainability" of the system. When confronted on exactly what this counseling would entail the left has all sorts of ready made excuses as to why there is no sinister purpose behind the government seeking out citizens of a certain age and talking with them about the end of their life and the decisions that they will face.

However, when asked directly to make promises that this will not turn into some sort of government urging for the elderly to accept old age and just submit to death rather than attempting to prolong their lives, those on the left dodge the issue and never actually make that promise. For example, when a senior citizen recently asked President Obama whether or not this proposal would entail a government worker showing up and counseling her on how best to die the President simply joked that there were not enough government employees to do such a thing. He never however actually promised her anything like what she asked him to though.

The left has always been fascinated with the concept of population control and ridding the world of “undesirables.” They are the birth place of the eugenics movement and gave rise to not only Hitler abroad but also Margaret Sanger, one of the most influential proponents of abortion in the United States, who saw the eugenics movement as a means of ridding the world of brown people. Every time you hear someone talk about how there are too many people on the planet and that we are killing the Earth and how we will be unable to feed ourselves in [insert fallacious number of years here] you can bet confidently that they are some left wing loon tied to some leftist political party promoting some sort of population control. China, well known for their leftist government, has tried for a long time to limit its own population which has often resulted in parents murdering their female children so that they can have more male heirs. There is even a movement on the left to institute all sorts of programs from forced abortions to even post birth abortions for children up to a certain age and which are not deemed to be wanted. Even President Obama’s own “Science Czar” has a track record of supporting chemical sterilization through the government contamination of water supplies in order to keep those that he sees as just too much of a burden on society from reproducing.

This all comes as a shock to many Americans who are far too busy living their daily lives and being productive members of society. But it is also all true. So knowing that the political left is filled to the brim with people who think this way would it be so far fetched to draw the conclusion that the proposed end of life counseling currently being considered could be more than just a friendly visit from Uncle Sam? Oh sure, it might start out that way. But if too few people accept the advice the government is giving how long until the Sandmen start showing up looking for people that the government has deemed have exceeded their useful lives?

You already can see how socialized medicine operates in other countries around the world. Individuals are already often denied treatments based on factors such as age. It will be no different here no matter how much the left cries, “Trust us, this time we know what we are doing!” They do not. And they never will.

The sad thing for grandma is that she is quite a bit past the age of thirty. So it will be a lot harder for her to flee from the pending bureaucratically approved termination.

Run grandma, run. Run while you still can. Because the ultimate ends of what the left wants to accomplish are there for anyone with eyes and that is willing to see them.

J. J. Jackson

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Biography - J. J. Jackson

J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts http://www.cafepress.com/rightthings. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com


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