Vox Sentences - Matters of life and death

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It’s December, the year is wrapping up, the 2024 retrospectives are on the horizon — and so it’s a good time to mull over matters of life and death. (Just me?) 

Last week, lawmakers in Britain supported legislation that would allow assisted dying for the terminally ill. Needless to say, assisted dying is controversial. Supporters argue that "death with dignity" is important, whereas opponents fear — well, they fear what recently happened in Switzerland. 

This fall, as Geneva-based correspondent Marin Cogan recounts in her new feature, an American woman traveled to Switzerland to end her life. That normally wouldn’t have caused chaos — only this woman didn’t go through the usual protocols involving assessments and doctor’s visits. Instead, she went to the woods and became the first person to use a 3D-printed “suicide pod,” the invention of the world’s most strident right-to-die advocate. The incident launched an investigation, landed an associate in jail, and raised new questions about the limits of freedom at the end of life. 

My other picks are more life-affirming. They include an exploration of whether tax reform could lead to more babies and an interview with a philosopher about mystical experiences.

—Angela Chen, senior editor

The high-tech future of assisted suicide is here. The world isn’t ready.

Oh, Switzerland: a place of stunning mountains, world-governing bodies, trains that run on time — and a surprisingly libertarian attitude toward assisted dying. Famous as a destination for “suicide tourism” (as critics put it), the country has robust guidelines around the pratice, though only one explicit law. But activist Philip Nitschke objects: Why require clinics and doctors? Why shouldn’t people decide for themselves? Enter his “suicide pod,” and the woman who used it. Marin Cogan tells the story of what happened, and the moral, policy, and philosophical ramifications. 

Could tweaks to the tax code lead to more marriages — and more kids?

It seems straightforward: Married women have more kids than unmarried women. But certain policies discourage marriage by, for example, pushing couples into a higher tax bracket. So would fixing these “marriage penalties” lead to more couples tying the knot and then welcoming a new baby? Rachel Cohen takes a look. 

I got malaria on purpose and so can you

Dylan Matthews, who is braver than most of us, chronicles his experience getting bitten by malaria-infected mosquitoes, all in service of helping medical research and hopefully saving lives. Dylan explains the history of these human challenge trials in a piece full of colorful details, some of which I maybe didn’t want to know (the mosquitoes to whom he offered himself are “apparently foot fetishists”). 

The perils of trying to optimize your morality

As far as I’m aware, Sigal Samuel has not served herself up to mosquitoes for the benefit of humanity. It’s possible that if I pointed that out to her, she would feel guilty — because Sigal is, as she writes in this essay, a “recovering optimizer.” For her, though, optimization isn’t only about 10,000 steps and straight A’s, but about scrupulosity and being as good as possible. Sigal traces the quest for moral optimization from a 16th-century revolution in double-entry bookkeeping to the emerging technologies that promise to improve our souls. So what’s a person (who just wants a formula for doing good) supposed to do?

Are progressive groups sinking Democrats’ electoral chances?

Perhaps you’ve heard pundits claim that “the groups” — that is, progressive groups — led the Democrats astray and that’s why they lost touch with voters and then lost the election. Andrew Prokop explains the debate, and why the reality might not be that tidy.

🎧 How to feel alive

The title speaks for itself. On The Gray Area, Sean Illing interviews philosopher Simon Critchley on mysticism. 

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