Alexander Chula

🇹🇭 🇬🇧 medical doctor, writer, lapsed classicist |

author of 'Goodbye, Dr Banda: Lessons for the West from a Small African Country' (Polygon, May 2023)

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

Thank you John for hosting me on the excellent @thinkingclasses podcast, and for such kind words about my book!

[John Gillam @thinkingclasses]

Check out the latest Thinking Class with @alexanderchula when it broadcasts tomorrow.

Alex and I talk about how a small African country (Malawi) can teach Britain more about the fruits of its civilisation than its current crop of cultural elites would care to know.

His book, Goodbye Dr. Banda, was published in 2023 and reviewed by no less than @NigelBiggar and Roger Scruton (prior to his passing and before Alex found a publisher). To get endorsements from such eminent thinkers tells you just how well written the book is. While I cannot match Lord Biggar's and Sir Scruton's heft, I can say hand on heart that it's one of the best book's I have read of its kind.

[Dan Hitchens @ddhitchens]

@kimleadbeater Now it’s confirmed there will be assisted deaths due to poverty, could you comment on how frequent this is likely to be? Do you think in the hundreds or the thousands?
https://t.co/VtjmaONOW3

[Prof Katherine Sleeman @kesleeman]

Responding to concerns about people requesting assisted death *because* of poverty, Lord Falconer makes the point that generally people who request AD are from high socioeconomic groups.

I wrote a thread last year on the inadequacy of this argument👇

https://t.co/uDVLmNwn65

[Prof Katherine Sleeman @kesleeman]

I’m concerned by some of the statements made in yesterday’s debate on the TIA Bill about marginalised groups and assisted dying.

🧵

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

Why do advocates of assisted dying still enthuse over contributions which add nothing new to the debate? There is no argument here that was not already a commonplace when the bill was proposed, nothing that addresses the serious, complex concerns raised as the bill has progressed

[Kim Leadbeater MBE MP @kimleadbeater]

Thank you to @AnthonyHorowitz writing in @NewStatesman for sharing his thoughts on the importance of giving terminally ill adults like his Mum choice and dignity in their dying days:
https://t.co/Yl4ZRaOpdK

[Molly Guinness @mollylguinness]

Those in favour of assisted dying should be careful about sneering. This excellent point by @BarbaraRich_law reminds me of this excellent piece by @alexanderchula https://t.co/ejEDne8Cvb

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

@BarbaraRich_law @AnthonyHorowitz Excellent thread. @AnthonyHorowitz is also lucky not to have met the patient of mine whose heroin-addicted children could not even wait 48 hours for her to die before prising the rings from her fingers. The detachment from the reality of many people's lives is very saddening.

[Barbara Rich @BarbaraRich_law]

I wish men and women who pen clichés like “dastardly relatives will arrange Agatha Christie-style exits for their elderly aunts” would once in their lifetime read something, anything contemporary and true about financial and testamentary abuse of older people and open their eyes

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

@mollylguinness @BarbaraRich_law Thank you. Yes @AnthonyHorowitz gives classic expression to my point that a chasm divides enthusiasts of assisted dying from those who stand to lose by it. Depressing that @NewStatesman should publish something so deaf to the complexities through which this debate has progressed.

[Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs @IrreverendPod]

New exclusive interview with @alexanderchula: what lessons can the West learn from a small, poor African country like Malawi? @jamiefranklin40 in discussion on empire, slavery, Christian missionaries, NGOs and more!

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

@IrreverendPod @JamieFranklin40 Thank you very much for a most enjoyable conversation Jamie

[Asia Literary Agency @AsiaLitAgency]

A persuasive shortlist…including the essay from ALA author @alexanderchula who changed my mind about this issue.

[Philip Murray @philipmurraylaw]

Compare and contrast.

Totally rediculous to suggest the House of Lords would be acting in a constitutionally illegitimate way here. This wasn’t in the government’s manifesto. A numerical majority of the Commons didn’t even support it.

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

@kesleeman @ddhitchens Thank you ever so much, Katherine!

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

@thinkingclasses Thank you so much John for an excellent conversation.

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

Yes, this was a superb piece. Look out for @Docstockk 's forthcoming book on this subject, Do Not Go Gentle. What I've read of it so far is masterly, as you would expect. I note now available for pre-order...

[Dan Hitchens @ddhitchens]

3. @Docstockk on a much-abused word.

“The legalisation of euthanasia does nothing to increase dignity but provides new ways to undermine it, and especially in the present non-ideal context where social care is already underfunded and overstretched”.
https://t.co/nSHOfsxYsw

[Alexander Chula @alexanderchula]

Hugely honoured to be included among such exalted company, let alone at the top of this list.
Thank you so much @ddhitchens - for this and for all your efforts in this important battle.

[Dan Hitchens @ddhitchens]

The 5 best articles written about the AS bill:

(With apologies to dozens more on the longlist)

[Dan Hitchens @ddhitchens]

1. @alexanderchula, fiercely, precisely and movingly, on politicians and (his) patients.

“These are lives damaged through abuse, neglect, deprivation, loneliness. The question is whether death is a valid solution.”
https://t.co/o4z7j59sgE

[Gordon Brown @GordonBrown]

It is not too late to put the brakes on assisted dying, and focus on improved palliative, social and end-of-life care

https://t.co/eKVlyfTxj6

[John Gillam @thinkingclasses]

Check out the latest Thinking Class with @alexanderchula when it broadcasts tomorrow.

Alex and I talk about how a small African country (Malawi) can teach Britain more about the fruits of its civilisation than its current crop of cultural elites would care to know.

His book, Goodbye Dr. Banda, was published in 2023 and reviewed by no less than @NigelBiggar and Roger Scruton (prior to his passing and before Alex found a publisher). To get endorsements from such eminent thinkers tells you just how well written the book is. While I cannot match Lord Biggar's and Sir Scruton's heft, I can say hand on heart that it's one of the best book's I have read of its kind.