Let Elderly 'Hurry Up and Die,' Japanese Official Says

The elderly should be able to "hurry up and die" to help the government, a senior Japanese official said, according to Baptist Press. Taro Aso, Japan's new finance minister, said: "Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. I would wake up feeling increasingly bad knowing that [treatment] was all being paid for by the government. The problem won't be solved unless you let them hurry up and die." Aso, 72, said he would decline medical care as his life nears its end, reported British newspaper The Guardian. Nearly one-fourth of Japan's 128 million people are over 60, according to The Guardian, and almost 40 percent of the Japanese households receiving government welfare include family members 65 or older.