“I am afraid that other people do not realize that the one aim of those who practice philosophy in the proper manner is to practice for dying and death.” – Socrates
Memento Mori (Remember to Die) has been given several interpretations over the ages. Some of which can be rather gripping to render it mildly and some that feel remote as the next galaxy over. In spite of all that, the adage reminds us all of our mortality and the fact that we too must pass away and be no more. For many this is a disturbing truth that receives little attention and when we do talk about dying it’s usually in a superficial way or embellished with romantic tales; whereas in actual reality, the ordeal leading up to our final moment can be more like a drawn out crucifixion, rather than some love parable of hope that the preachers of slow death fictionalize to keep their coffers filled or the comfy middleclass ideals that medical healers promise to be available at the end of the road.
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Angels in heaven (figure of speech) can pour bowlfuls of torment upon the human race but men will continue to cling onto life like a baby suckling on its mother’s breast. We are culturally hardwired to live at all cost and so the notion of death feels appalling for most. But what if death is not really what we have come to conceive and by accidentally and/or neglectfully forgetting to be mindful of our inevitable end we have created endless phantoms that perpetuate our fear of passing on. Like a rainbow of colorful desires what if our innate ‘death drive’ really has a place and time to be unleashed in our collective and/or individual evolution. Must we taint all our desires with the puritanical brush of religiosity or pathologize everything that goes against the compulsion to succeed and optimize!
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If we give only 1% of our time to the preparation for dying and the rest to the pursuit of acquiring, how can we ever be ready for death. Where’s the justice and/or balance in that! Modernity has cast a blanket over death that in essence makes our lives on the whole more diminished and flat. When in truth it would be more realistic and humane to embrace our end and participate in the celebration leading up to it rather than waiting to be so infirm that we can barely recall and appreciate the value of life. “We are born involuntarily. Religion, psychiatry, and the State insist that we die the same way. That is what makes dying voluntarily the ultimate freedom. We have just as much right and responsibility to regulate how we die as we have to regulate how we live.” (Szasz, T. 1999)
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Do you really think authorities in religion, psychiatry and government have everyone’s best interest in mind; for if they do then that ought to stir your slumber! We live in a very diverse and complex world in which one glove fits all myths are better stored away in Santa’s big bag of Christmas gifts. Have you ever considered what most of these blockheads have in common!? They largely work from the same ‘preventionist script’ that deprives people of their natural right to die; i.e., our freedom to depart with honor, dignity and peace. For them our continued existence is obligatory regardless of our personal needs and freedom of will! To them we are but a means to their ends. Even as conventional institutions are crumbling all around, they believe that their large pompous asses belong on the throne of power. Sever my f—king head from my shoulders before bending the knee to their abominations; it is better to die well than live poorly. Memento Mori – there’s a sword hovering over our heads so cut out the shit and prepare for death and learn to die!
