Slocum, Josh — The Privatization of Death Part Two
The traditional rights of families to care for their dead is the topic of this two-part interview on the funeral industry in the United States, with Josh Slocum and Lisa Carlson, co-author’s of “Final Rights: Reclaiming the American Way of Death.”
“Final Rights” tells the story of the loss of control over what to do at the time of a death in the family, the euphemisms regarding death, and the laws and regulations in each of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. The chapter “Tricks of the Funeral Trade” tells how, when grieving the loss of a loved one, many people fail to compare prices, and become vulnerable to suggestions that their love for the deceased is measured by the amount of money paid for the funeral, the casket and the burial.
Josh Slocum directs the Funeral Consumers Alliance. Lisa Carlson directs the Funeral Ethics Organization.
In part two Josh Solcum discusses the cultural pathology about death that led to the loss of our rights to deal with our dead at death and allows the state to regulate private family activities that we’d never tolerate in any other sphere.
Josh Slocum and I visited by phone from his office near Burlington, Vermont, on August 30, 2013 and began with his description of how we as a culture deal with death.
The book he recommends is “The Selfish Gene,” by Richard Dawkins.
Our interview with Lisa Carlson, recorded from her home in Vermont, on August 26, 2013, can be heard here.
More information on this topic may be found on our website’s law department.
Click here to listen to our interview with Josh Slocum or on the media player below.
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