Scarcity Morality

 Have you heard of this argument? 

I've heard too many people say, "Death is a part of life." "Death is what gives life meaning, because life wouldn't have meaning if it never ended." 

 This argument makes me mad. I'll be honest. I find it incredibly irritating. I've heard this argument in everything from Watchmen to Star Trek: Picard to Critical Role, and it makes me mad. 

Let's examine this argument just for a second. This argument treats life as if it gets value from scarcity the same way that diamonds do. Diamonds are rocks with few uses. They're sometimes useful in science experiments or to cut things, but that's it. Yet advertisers have convinced us that diamonds are somehow valuable because they're shiny and rare. Now we have people making the same argument about life. They say that life only has value because it's scarce.

Imagine someone you love is dying. Imagine they aren't in pain or suffering but the doctor recommends euthanizing them anyway. You ask them why. The doctor responds "Well, because it will add meaning to the moments you had with them so far."

Wouldn't that be stupid? Wouldn't you want to get rid of that doctor? Of course you would! That's a completely insane thing to say! Experiences with a loved one are not valuable because they're rare. They're intrinsically valuable. So is life. 

People who believe death is important believe that life only has value because all the life in the universe can be found on one little blue ball in the vastness of space. I think that even if life covered every surface of every planetoid in all the solar systems in all the arms of all the galaxies of all the universe, there could not be too much of it. 

The existence of death is a highly overrated phenomenon. 

Death isn't a part of life. It's an abomination. It's sad. It's horrible. It's disgusting. It's perverse. And one day it will be gone. 

I reject this scarcity morality.