Daniel Callihan :
The Father of BioEthics & more..
You’ll have nothing and Love it!!
Daniel Callahan: A man who was referred to by his students and others who subscribed to his many lectures & books spanning across the World since the early 60’s was referred to as: “The Father of Bioethics”.
His Importance to you?
Even though commonly referred to as a philosopher- he played a leading role in developing the field of biomedical ethics as the Co-founder of the Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences, later renamed The Hastings Center. Which is the world’s First Bioethics Research Institute.
There is an interview with Callahan here.
What is BioEthics?
Bioethics involves issues relating to the beginning and end of human life, all the way from issues relating to in-vitro fertilization to abortion & euthanasia as well as palliative care.
Bioethics has an impact on every level of human community from the local nursing home to the huge international conferences on issues like the Human Genome.
Bioethics is a branch of “applied ethics” and requires the expertise of people working in a wide range disciplined practices from Theology to Natural Science and Law.
The scope of his interests was impressively wide, as the Hastings Center said in an appreciation of him, “beginning with Catholic thought and proceeding to the morality of abortion, the nature of the doctor-patient relationship, the promise and peril of new technologies, the scourge of high health care costs, the goals of medicine, the medical and social challenges of aging, dilemmas raised by decision-making near the end of life, and the meaning of death.”
Among his most important books was “Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging Society” (1987), which argued for rationing the health care dollars spent on older Americans.
Just to give you a preview of Callihan’s work, here is an example of him describing the Pandemic of Obesity in America as he saw it in 2012.
Now- I’m not on any level in terms of calling myself a scholar or a student of Bioethics whatsoever- yet- as a human being who walked thru 2 years of the same “Covidian ballooning of Paranoia and Fear” bullshit as well -there is a noticeable pattern between this quiet conversation that Callahan is trying to communicate thru his own vomit and that pre-written rehearsal Crap that many in High-Ranking Agencies used to push the “Mystery and Misery of Covid”.
Or maybe it’s just me thinking that it’s oddly interesting that obesity was referred to as a pandemic as many of the ailments found in this short analysis from Danny boy. Obesity is driving the car to this or that particular diseases and that was also found to be relevant even in those who were targeted by Covid19.
Weird? NAHHH!
In 2020, a shared opinion piece of Daniel Callahan was published in a paper called “Health Progress”. It was meant to create a response by showcasing the Progressive movement of Health Care and how those goals should be pursued to shape that Progressive movement in real time:
“A sustainable medicine, as with sustainable HMOs, requires rationing to insure affordability. And affordability, I have tried to argue, is a basic requirement of sustainable healthcare.
Why does this point seem to so hard for Americans to grasp?” – Callahan wrote
Callahan found it fundamental from his own perspective to present the idea that to work for the Common Man, the Common Goal had to begin with Rationing as necessary.
Sound Familiar?
The problem he first calls out is based on the presentation of Individualism:
“The problem is that the individual, though surely a worthy value, is itself the major obstacle to an affordable, sustainable medicine. By putting the needs of the individual ahead of the common good—in this case defined as population health—this perspective enshrined a set of values that knows no boundaries. ‘’
What Country comes to mind when you think about this Socialized Method of Health Care?
Maybe Cananda? Canada is currently in the middle of their own crisis because the demand for Baby Tylenol, including in dissolvable form, has exceeded supplies. Baby Tylenol is unavailable. Health experts claim its due to the supply not the demand of it. But isn’t Baby Tylenol as basic staple of medicine, and not complex to produce?
Just hold the thought because there is more on this, we are going to look at it as this progresses on.
Back to the culture shock that helped to shape a New Health Care Community. Here in America, we watched this new institution rise while Americans were told to sit down and shut up. Daily news briefings during this “unprecedented & historic period” in America would change how we saw each other, how we conversed with each other as well as how we chose to spend time with each other.
Covid progressed so thoroughly that it took ahold of every faction in American life. Progressive Governors across the US took the reins and made certain to directly apply a set of rules in homes regardless of your personal beliefs and Questions. In fact, they shuffled in a course of action that Daniel Callahan would say was Ethical and that position is one of population health being allowed to reign over personal choice. Whether you agreed or not, it is what was applied, what was reported and pushed every day, every hour, everywhere.
Practice What you Preach
Callihan created a career based on mere chance. 40 years’ worth of redefining philosophy, tucked away into a little dormant Canvas- until the winds of a Pandemic would change the atmospheric stability that we’ve always known as America, a Unique Exception in a World that is Dark. That known security blanket which calmed our fears and eased our minds today is completely lost. America has always reflected -that at anywhere- anytime, day or Night; People in General would be provided with Advanced Medical Care regardless of the sickness, their race, their sex or their age. Today that has been completely itemized and pushed into the public square from a very small group of people who believe they can choose to define Care over Cure or vice versa.
At a time when so many futures look bleak and painted in uncertainty- Real Individuals on a global scale around the World do not recognize a Future with individuals like Callahan at the wheel.
Callahan himself underwent $80,000 worth of treatment at the age of 79- for a heart condition yet his Career was centered into building a pathway to what he’d define as a healthy sustainable future!
Overall-
Callihan leaned on his own self-professed Intellect & pride when it came to the position of defining Bioethics. Infact, it teaches us more about his personal identity crisis not American Society. Publishing this ideology onto a general populace is not only risky behavior – but once applied- quite literally shown to kill millions. Have We really seen enough-America?
This is part of our documentary series Rationed State, see Part One – Victory Gardens or Part Two – Rationing here.