Can any of those me's talk for me now?
Remember all those promises I made when I listened to Rush Limbaugh in college? Yeah, don't hold me to them. Here's why.
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"Drew! I haven't seen you since college, twenty years ago! My God, Drew—what are you doing with that gun?"
"I've come to kill you," said Drew, "just as you asked me to."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't you remember? You said to me, many times, 'If I ever vote Republican, then shoot me.' Well, I just read you're actually a Republican senator. So you see, you must die."
"Drew, you're crazy! That was twenty years ago! I was young, I was idealistic! You can't hold me to that!"
"It was no casual, flippant remark, senator. In fact, I have here a piece of paper, signed by you and witnessed by others, instructing me to do this. And before you tell me not to take that seriously, let me remind you that you voted for a bill recently in favour of living wills. In fact, you've got one yourself. Now tell me this: if you think people in the future should carry out your wish to kill you if you get demential or fall into a permanent vegetative state, why shouldn't I carry out your past wish to kill you if you became a Republican?"
"I've got an answer to that!" screamed the sweating senator. "Just give me a few minutes!"
Drew cocked the pistol and aimed. "You'd better be quick."
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 127.
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What do you think? Can you come up with a good answer for Drew as to why our future selves should be beholden to our present selves in some situations but not in others? I bet Friday Ed will know. I'm gonna wait for him to show up and tell me why.
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"Drew! I haven't seen you since college, twenty years ago! My God, Drew—what are you doing with that gun?"
"I've come to kill you," said Drew, "just as you asked me to."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Don't you remember? You said to me, many times, 'If I ever vote Republican, then shoot me.' Well, I just read you're actually a Republican senator. So you see, you must die."
"Drew, you're crazy! That was twenty years ago! I was young, I was idealistic! You can't hold me to that!"
"It was no casual, flippant remark, senator. In fact, I have here a piece of paper, signed by you and witnessed by others, instructing me to do this. And before you tell me not to take that seriously, let me remind you that you voted for a bill recently in favour of living wills. In fact, you've got one yourself. Now tell me this: if you think people in the future should carry out your wish to kill you if you get demential or fall into a permanent vegetative state, why shouldn't I carry out your past wish to kill you if you became a Republican?"
"I've got an answer to that!" screamed the sweating senator. "Just give me a few minutes!"
Drew cocked the pistol and aimed. "You'd better be quick."
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 127.
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What do you think? Can you come up with a good answer for Drew as to why our future selves should be beholden to our present selves in some situations but not in others? I bet Friday Ed will know. I'm gonna wait for him to show up and tell me why.
