Of course it would need to be more of a process than a booth. A business with a storefront, a 7-30 day waiting period, a minimum age, etc. That said, why isn’t there an opt out? Why must one break the law, risk severe pain and possible survival with disability to opt out?
I’m American for context. We clearly don’t value human life here, at all. Empty rhetoric, sure. But never in practice. This would be a win all around given our practiced values.
It could be a business that charges a fee that could be reasonably saved for even in poverty. So the capitalists could get their profit, the only thing our society does value, and the malcontents could get the painless “no thanks” opt out they desperately desire.
Bonus for the glorious job creators: probably most of the people they consider “lazy, lennonist, socialist, marxist commies” would no longer be a nuisance to them. They could count their shillings in peace, without converting new ones.
Really the only reason I can think of that a good capitalist would be against this is that it might reduce the homeless population, our massive tent cities are a purposeful way to scare the workforce into continuing to show up for their jobs.
Do our tent cities of capitalism scarecrows really generate more profit through fear than for profit suicide would through the closest thing to mercy (for profit) a capitalist could approve of?
I think this would be one of those things some in our society fears beforehand, like marijuana dispensaries, but comes to appreciate the presence of once available. A core tenant of claimed capitalist values is that participation is supposedly “voluntary,” after all.
Counterpoint: a reality that doesn’t make you want to kill yourself should be a thing that exists.
Not all suicidal people are driven there by external events, what we need is more comprehensive and affordable mental health care and the removal of the stigma attached to people to take advantage of it.
The issue is that oftentimes when one is suicidal or depressed it causes irrational thinking. This is what makes treatment so hard, it’s not as simple as saying “your life is fine, get over it”. You have to reconstruct their thinking which is why the most common and arguably effective treatment is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy)
A suicide booth is no different than free drugs to an addict or vodka to an alcoholic, just faster.
It’s cruel and wasted potential for people who could be happy and live a normal and productive life.
In the US, we have an aging population that is more aware of what we may face as we have more extra years of failing health. I would predict that offering the option after a certain age should become more socially acceptable. My husband and I would like to eventually go out together, but right now we’d have to go to Switzerland to do so. I wish I’d see more people discussing this, but I haven’t.