Should such a question, or answer, even be entertained? Or, should one always revert to the normative ethos — albeit, safe and uncontroversial — that by definition, any and all lives constitute a worthy life, merely because life itself is precious and therefore undeniably and incontrovertibly worthwhile?
Yet, surely we engage in such debates, if not directly, then circuitously and sometimes by engaging in linguistic euphemisms which betray our most sacred belief systems.
Are proponents of the death penalty those who have answered the question, already? For, have you not made a judgment of “unworthiness” if you believe that the death penalty is an acceptable penalty? Or, of a lesser offense — say, a homeless person who begs for food; should they all be shuttered in some part of the world where we don’t have to deal with them?
How do we define “worth”? Is it by economic success, or are there other factors which determine fulfillment of a definition rarely complete and barely understood?
Is “worth” tantamount to “indispensable”? If that is the standard, then none of us would qualify; for, looking back into the history of mankind, is there anyone from yesterday whom we consider indispensable today? They are all deep in the ground where moss, grass and ivy have overgrown the cemeteries where once the worth was thought to be indispensable, but now are merely forgotten remnants of unrepentant memories. Here is a thought: At a minimum, a worthy life is when a person provides a mangy dog a life of comfort and happiness.
For Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the question of a worthy life often begins to creep in, where the Federal agency or Postal facility is doing everything to question your worth with the Federal Agency or the Postal Service.
Don’t buy into that line of thinking.
You know your own worth; don’t begin to doubt it. Instead, contact a disability lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and begin the process of preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS, through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and thus begin the process of ascertaining the unquestionable worthiness of a life which has many miles to go, if merely to have the opportunity to give a mangy dog a life of comfort and joy.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.