
Unearthing the Secrets of New York’s Mass Graves - rbx
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/05/15/nyregion/new-york-mass-graves-hart-island.html
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sixstringtheory
You can't take it with you, folks, and that includes your body. I don't get
the rituals around what happens to bodies after consciousness leaves them. Let
the dust return to dust. So what if it happens together with a bunch of other
dust? My dust won't know the difference at that point.

The important thing for me is to leave a legacy besides what happens to my
body. A work of art or technology, or memories passed down through offspring.
Maybe a nice little obituary.

The stories in the article are great, I just don't get the attitude that asks,
"how dare these people be buried this way?" I think it has everything to do
with the irrational fear of death, maybe one of the only things we won't be
able to rationally, personally comprehend.

~~~
Derpdiherp
The want for a traditional burial of some form isn't for the departed - as you
say they have no need of it, it's so the family can grieve and have some form
of closure and often a place to go and visit.

This is going to entirely depend on the family and is a very personal thing
and not rational, but the widespread of emotional response to loss is anything
but rational.

Myself I don't care what happens to my cadaver when I'm gone, but my family
can deal with it as they please to bring whatever peace they need.

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greyboy
I certainly understand the frustration and 'hurt' expressed by what is in the
article. And there are some questionable circumstances and decisions, yes,
along with unwillingness to work with the poor.

But it's not as if these people are being pushed into mass graves with a
bulldozer. Or willy-nilly flung around without respect.

Most of these stories were of people already forgotten - strained
relationships, mental illness, or otherwise out of contact with their loved
ones.

If someone hasn't spoken to another member of a family or friends in a number
of years and kept in contact with the caregivers/caregiving facilities, and
their only contact is with someone who is paid to care for their most basic
needs, how can we entirely blame a system for not going to utter lengths to
'restore' those?

Another sad reality is: some people don't care.

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vintermann
I'd heard about this sort of thing from listening to "Porgy and Bess", but I
didn't know it still went on over there :(

Getting a municipal burial if necessary is one of the perks of living with a
social safety net that I guess I didn't appreciate.

