Financially burdened? Even after death!

I just listened to an ad on the radio regarding the current and rising financial burdens of funeral services. More and more people are unable to pay the unfreakingbelievable cost of burying ones deceased loved ones.Well! There happens to be an urgent and fear-based solution for all… at least that is what the ad informed me.

Our lovely government has set up an assistance of some sort for poverty level individuals. Some sort of social services. Then, yay for us who are just above that level, the funeral homes now have “payment plan options”.

… oh golly gee how happy are we?

So! what I’m really hearing from this ad is:
a) your taxes go to assisting those who cannot afford a funeral service when that time comes (which, you know, is fine, Im all for sharing… but not if…)
b) those of us who can afford taxes but can’t quite afford a funeral, now, not only have to pay monthly for all services required while we are alive, but! we now have the option to pay monthly for all that we DON’T need while we are gone?

Does anyone else see how absolutely absurd this is?

Ok, this is what went through my mind in the split second it took to decide whether I should turn off the frackin noisy shit or listen to it in its entirety and allowed my common sense brain to rage at the idiocy… Well, I listened and needed to vent…

If we, as humans, (our bodies being made from the same ilk as the moon, the stars and the planets) did NOT buy into the gold-plated, satin lined, air tight ridiculously looking caskets that cost ooooh about 6 months + in MY wages only to put our, now unusable, bodies in for all eternity, would instead, went along with the plain jane, eau naturaaaal, wicker, bamboo or wood plank option. Not ONLY would we be doing ourselves a favour by NOT wasting precious commodities just to bury ourselves in, but once we and the box started to decompose and compost, we would be giving back to the planet earth. A return in kind, for all, she has sustained us while we lived upon her. Now doesn’t that just set off a lovely completed circle of life image?

I know, some of you are imagining gaping holes and fallen gravestones aren’t you? Well if we do have to pay for our bodies everlasting resting place on this planet why not put it towards the keeper of the graveyard? I would gladly pay taxes for someone to keep refilling my last resting place and maybe grow a large tree in that spot as well.

Now all this has got me wondering where the heck this unbelievable desire to bury oneself in a fancy shmancy casket with all the bells and whistles… literally (that one can ill afford nor will anyone ever see its overpriced beauty once it’s underground anyway) come from and why has it come to the point that dying has become an unnecessary financial burden? Well, folks, I went on a search.

As Nathaniel Hawthorne so eloquently put it back in 1863;
“Caskets! A vile modern phrase, which compels a person … to shrink … from the idea of being buried at all.”

Long after the time where humans thought being buried with all valuables was the key to making the final stretch to everlasting life… uh huh… the wealthy decided that airtight, sealed, metal containers would save their bodies and the possession upon them from grave robbers.

… long pause of confused contemplation…

Okaaaay.. here is the thing, if you wanted to be buried with your most expensive jewelry and such, in a time where robbery was considered a “JOB” well then, you were just simply asking for problems.. as we well know from history… (History: that wee antiquity we are supposed to use to learn from our mistakes??) Why bury it? Give your most precious prized possession to someone who could use it and watch them from the afterlife enjoying it as much as you did…

This just goes to show that again, it was the wealthy people’s fear based greedy, misconceptions that just added a whole new dimension to this ridiculous trend. I’m starting to think that the richer you were (are) the stupider you became… yes! I’m being judgmental. GA! (And yet there are 8 very wealthy, greedy families that seem to have run amuck with our worlds finances and provisions.. need I say more??)

Now back in the 17 and 1800’s fear of disease was a terrible issue, and with the rampant spread of cholera, rumors of being buried alive had spread thorough the country like wildfire. Edgar Allan Poe’s story “The Premature Burial” was not at ALL helpful for those trying times. So the safety casket was designed. Basically a (back then) highly priced cord attached to your finger that was attached to a bell that would ring if you were disadvantaged enough to find yourself mistakenly buried after a long debilitating illness.

Many a good horror type movie relished from this unfortunate misnomer.

Although my recent, morbid rant down casket memory lane has been short-lived, it has been fascinating all the same and I give credit to the blog; A Grave Interest: History of Coffins & Caskets
for all the interesting wee tidbits. I am also WELL aware that death is something to be respected and honoured as is are the current LIVING!! I do, however, want you all to remember this
very minute detail. Very expensive, sealed and airtight containers do NOT keep you from decomposing nor does it protect the public from disease, so do NOT allow anyone to sell you on either one of those redonculous features for more money. In fact, an airtight coffin can cause the body to liquefy. A coffin that permits air to pass through, such as a wooden box, allows for skeletal remains. A complete and thorough clean up from Mother Nature’s own clean-up crew, for FREE!

In my personal and humble opinion, we are, once again, falling into the scam that is urgent and fear-based and we are falling into these scams with our eyes closed and our bank books wide open. Please do your research! As we honour our dead we so must honour those who are still alive, how awful would it be if you could not make your monthly mortgage payment because you had to bury old Uncle Sam in a $10,000 casket?

If you are at all earth conscious, like myself. Check out the more affordable, earth friendly options OR demand that some become available in your area. I myself have chosen the route of cremation
and my ashes will be spread in a blanket of lush green ferns deep in a forest or jungle. My husband, for example, wants to spend his last dying breath hiking out into the vast wilderness to die under the blue skies. He wants his personal life cycle to be truly complete… Both are valid, earth friendly ideas, one, unfortunately, is a bit against the law and some might find it disgusting. But in all honesty it’s as natural as breathing.

…my next rant should be the financial freedom of owning your own home with a lifetime mortgage sham that was also on the radio this am as well. But I digress…

I appreciate you taking the time to read through my most current blog and again, may I remind you, that if you have nothing nice to say or you feel like cursing me to the moon and back about today’s words please refrain. I, however, do not mind a good solid argumentative case involving respected research and evidence and of course all comments that are positive in nature are completely welcome.

Remember folks: if we ruin our Option A… there is no option B for a sustainable future on this planet. Think wisely as you set your footprints upon this earth both while you are alive and after you are gone.

Grow or buy green, eat fresh, do not purchase plastic, ESPECIALLY WATER (if you must buy food in plastic, please recycle it), demand options, turn off the radio and the TV, ask questions, live off grid as much as you can and just be happy. I’m heading in that direction and I guarantee you it will be well worth it right to the very end.