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Assisted dying, Books, Culture, Dementia, Ian McEwan, Law, Older people, Sách & Tri thức, Society, UK news

Ian McEwan calls for assisted dying rights to extend to dementia sufferers

The author, whose family has been impacted by dementia, says provision in living wills could clarify intentions when a person declines to the point they are ‘alive and dead all at once’

Legalised assisted dying should “gradually” be extended to dementia sufferers, the author Ian McEwan has said.

McEwan was “shocked by the snow-drilling attempts” by those opposed to the UK’s assisted dying bill, he told a public book event in London, citing its more than 1,000 amendments. MPs and peers backing the bill now believe it is “near impossible” for it to pass the House of Lords before the end of the session in May due to alleged filibustering.

thanhtoong0
January 29, 2026

Books, Consumer rights, Culture, Law, Money, Sách & Tri thức, Society

Why we need a right not to be manipulated

From to airlines to broadband, companies exploit cognitive biases to get us to part with money. Here’s how to fight back

Many nations already enshrine a right not to be defrauded, and even a right not to be deceived. If a company sells you a new medicine, falsely claiming that it prevents cancer, it can be punished. If a firm convinces you to buy a new smartphone, saying that it has state-of-the-art features when it doesn’t, it will have violated the law. But in the current era, many companies are taking our time and money not by defrauding or deceiving us, but by practising the dark art of manipulation.

They hide crucial terms in fine print. They automatically enrol you in a programme that costs money but does not benefit you at all. They make it easy for you to subscribe to a service, but extremely hard for you to cancel. They use “drip pricing”, by which they quote you an initial number, getting you to commit to the purchase, only to add a series of additional costs, knowing that once you’ve embarked on the process, you are likely just to say “yeah, whatever”. In its worst forms, manipulation is theft. It takes people’s resources and attention, and it does so without their consent.

thanhtoong0
July 27, 2025