The day will come when the Boomer will cry out and beg for The Day of the Pillow:
Like the protagonist in his taboo novel, former doctor-turned-author Yo Kusakabe believes chopping off elderly patients’ useless limbs could help prevent a potential collapse of super-aging Japan’s overstressed care industry. Now his extraordinary ideas are on display on the big screen, with the book’s film adaptation attracting huge controversy since its release last month in Japan.
But “Haiyoshin (Useless Body)” — which sees a young doctor advocate for “A-care (Amputation Care)” — has also focused attention on the struggling care sector in a country with the world’s second-oldest population.
Kusakabe, a former geriatric specialist from Osaka, explained to AFP the thinking behind his shocking proposition, saying removing paralyzed limbs would make patients lighter and “reduce the burden on caregivers” in case the care industry reaches crisis point. He sees it as a potential game changer, provided patients in the real world give consent. He argues that patients’ immobile arms and legs are nothing but an impediment to caregiving: they dangle like dumbbells, get stuck in pajamas and require more bathing.
“If you cut them off, a female carer would have less difficulty lifting a hefty male patient or suffer less back pain,” the 70-year-old said.
And people wonder why I adore Japanese culture. It’s the perfect, logical solution to deal with Boomers who refuse to move on with the natural order of things. Whatever infinitesimal fragment of concern Ie ever had for them vanished the moment that the first child was vaccinated against Covid in order to “protect their grandparents”.