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167 Comments
- kaveti6616, on 10/11/2009, -10/+49It shouldn't cost money to bury a person. I simply cannot grasp the lengths to which greedy ***** will go to squeeze money out of people. I mean, really. There is land designated for burial. Why the ***** should it cost money to dig a hole and bury your loved ones there. How can it cost 6000 bucks for a coffin? It just doesn't make sense to me. I used to laugh at people who said that one day breathing air would cost money, but now that I think about it, the idea doesn't seem very far-fetched.
- PeppermintPig, on 10/11/2009, -4/+42Onion-worthy story phrasing. The dead are rising!!
- aimhelix, on 10/11/2009, -3/+33That would be socialism!
And now, for my golf swing... watch this.. - PeterODactyl, on 10/11/2009, -2/+29Soylent Green.
- MacBookForMe, on 10/10/2009, -2/+27Very sad...there have to be a better solution
- anonymousmedic, on 10/11/2009, -3/+28I have a solution to this: Donate unclaimed corpses to medical schools, teaching institutions and LEGITIMATE anatomists (Not these BodyWorks *****). They are always in demand for them, and the death of one could mean saving the life of hundreds over the course of a nurse, paramedic, RTs or MDs career.
- meloon, on 10/10/2009, -9/+33That's a shame... not having enough money to bury a member from your family? We should have a financial help system for this, AT LEAST for a place in a cemetery.
- Lane, on 10/11/2009, -3/+21I can't believe this is a story about the United States. wtf happened to us?
- Propethic, on 10/11/2009, -4/+22How much do caskets and funerals cost again? The free markets triumphs yet again, *rolleyes emoticon*
- Averness, on 10/11/2009, -2/+20You are still part of the problem. A pine box shouldn't cost more than $50. Because you think spending 30x that amount is okay, and even some sort of bargain, makes you part of the problem.
- Averness, on 10/11/2009, -6/+23The answer to your question is GREED. Why is a funeral so expensive? Why do coffins costs thousands of dollars? It's greed. That is all.
- mksmothers, on 10/11/2009, -3/+20Do you expect people to do manual labor for free? It costs $6,000 for a coffin because stupid people pay $6,000 for a coffin.
- Nightsilencer, on 10/11/2009, -3/+19When i read the title, I thought the Zombie Apocalypse was starting... DAMN!
- Izult, on 10/11/2009, -0/+15I read somewhere else that do it yourself burials are on the rise too.
- asgardshill, on 10/11/2009, -0/+15And if they were to take me to court to try to force me to pay it, all I'd have to do is say, "Please produce a contract that I signed that obligates me to pay this bill." Case dismissed. And if they tried to jack with my credit, I'd sue THEM for libel.
- pintomp3, on 10/11/2009, -1/+15Can't wait for them to exert that death is a pre-existing condition.
- mksmothers, on 10/11/2009, -3/+17some people call it life insurance.
- frieddonuts, on 10/11/2009, -0/+14the burial of a person represents an environmental cost to society that someone has to hold the burden for. unfortunately, the relatives of the deceased hold the burden, and the funeral industry charges such absurd prices for their work (because they can, seeing as they are a very specialized industry with very little competition).
it shouldn't be free, but something needs to be done to solve this problem. families shouldn't be punished for a family member dying. - secrity, on 10/11/2009, -1/+15I could see a financial help system, but NOT for a place in a cemetery. Cemetery burials are expensive and unnecessary, and there are several alternatives.
- papashawn, on 10/11/2009, -2/+16Perhaps this will end this irrational age-old obsession with our lifeless shells.
When I die you can let me decay in the living room for all I care. - venom8599, on 10/11/2009, -2/+15Actually, as a matter of public health you have to dispose of bodies properly. Whether it's burial, cremation, or some other option, you have to do that. Otherwise you'd wind up with disease-infested corpses floating in reservoirs and things like that.
- northwatuppa, on 10/11/2009, -1/+13That kind of thing can leave emotional scars on surviving family members. I don't want to think about what it would have felt like to have had this kind of thing happen when my father passed.
- DarkStar3333, on 10/11/2009, -0/+12I never got why people would want to be burried anyway. Both my wife an I agree that if we die we want to be creamated. Personally burying people just seems like a terrible waste of space.
- ruarctb, on 10/11/2009, -3/+15Compassion. Maybe some of you should try seeing what it's about.
Imagine its your family who can't afford this *****. Not everyone is in an ivory tower or even has boot straps to pull on. - Floobins, on 10/11/2009, -3/+14Welcome to Death Inc.
- infinitus64, on 10/11/2009, -0/+11i want a Buddhist funeral just left out for the vultures. cheaper than letting the corporate vultures profit from my death.
- Averness, on 10/11/2009, -0/+10My father is dying of lung cancer and insists that there be no funeral because he doesn't want to burden any of his kids with the costs because he knows we can't afford it. It's sad as hell, but also true.
- mariuzi, on 10/11/2009, -0/+10This is the good side of a crisis, people cut down on needless crap.
Bodies are garbage, nothing more and nothing less. Grampa won't care about his... shell, because he's already dead! Just dispose of them as cheaply and eco-friendily as possible. - secrity, on 10/11/2009, -0/+10It is a shame that there isn't a low cost bare bones option; just a waxed cardboard box, pickup truck, and a cremation. Some states require the use of expensive things like a funeral home, embalming and coffins.
When I had a cat die, the vet put the corpse in a plastic bag and then into a cardboard box. The cremation place picked up the body in a delivery van and then cremated it. Simple, cheap, and perfectly suitable for a dead human. - mksmothers, on 10/11/2009, -6/+15Why wouldn't you have to pay for a funeral? It takes goods and services to take your corpse and put it in the ground. It takes goods and services of other people to have a gathering on someone else's property. It takes goods and services to make your decaying body look presentable. If you or your family members don't pay for it, who do you expect to pay for it?
If you say the government, you are really saying strangers should be allowed to take money from me to give to others to bury you. - mariuzi, on 10/11/2009, -3/+12That still doesn't justify the whole "proper burial" *****. Just dispose of them in an eco-friendly manner.
- fishshogun, on 10/11/2009, -0/+9When I die send my body to Wall Street or a G/S that's where our money went.
- monodelasno, on 10/11/2009, -1/+9Let me toss a scenario at you MKSMothers.
Person A works 35-40 years for The Acme Corporation. Acme provided a nice life insurance policy for him. Acme downsizes and he becomes redundant.
Ever try getting life insurance when your in your late 50's? - Capta1nA, on 10/11/2009, -0/+8FTA:
"About a dozen states now subsidize the burial or cremation of unclaimed bodies, including Illinois, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Most of the state programs provide disposition services to people on Medicaid, a cost that has grown along with Medicaid rolls." - MidnightTide, on 10/11/2009, -0/+7Funerals are for the living, personally I don't care what happens to my body after I die. Throw me in a ditch if you want.....so if people can't afford a funeral - just dump the body somewhere in the wild.
- JohnnySoftware, on 10/11/2009, -1/+8Yes, but lets be honest. In the Philippines they have a lot of people who live in the waste disposal sites so they can eat the garbage. If that is not bad enough for you, mud cookies are a staple food for the poor living in Haiti.
If someone's family and neighborhood traditionally bury their dead somewhere other than cemeteries and then ten million people arrive here from that same or similar neighborhoods, it is a safe bet that you are going to start to find some dead bodies buried around you.
Murder victim bodies found in the US are nothing new. But when you die from gunshot, stab wounds, or strangulation - that is not strictly speaking "contagious".
What is contagious is when people die of natural causes from disease. There is a reason why we do not throw dead bodies in our waterways that we get our drinking water from - or in fact any waterways. However, that is the practice along the Ganges in India and I expect some other countries around the world.
An example of why this could be dangerous, expecially now, might shock you. When flu researchers seeking more data on the virus that caused the Spanish Influenza virus that wiped out a large chunk of the healthy USA population at the start of the century, they found it. The actual virus itself.
It was among the graves of those who had died of the Spanish Influenza virus a century ago and been buried in Alaska. They got getter samples from those bodies in graves than they did from preserved tissue or fluid samples held by the US government that were removed by doctors from some of the victims.
Cholera is another disease that is spread easily. If someone dumps family members bodies who have been infected with Cholera near anything used for drinking or cleaning water, you could be looking at a big problem. Anthrax is a disease that takes hold and infects the soil, and from there livestock and people. That is another thing you do not want to have just dumped with corpses any old place.
Millions of people came to the USA recently without any training or medical screening by US health care workers as they entered. If they have a chronic illness, the odds rise steadily over time that they are going to die of it. Whether they are buried by our traditional methods or their family's traditional methods depends on the circumstances.
Apparently, in the cases described in the article, it was not done in the traditional way for the US. This is one way public safety has slipped since we had immigration coming in through regulated channels. We could detect and treat diseases at the outset. Not hope that the bodies did not wind up in someone's yard or the next to a wellspring in the woods. - PeppermintPig, on 10/11/2009, -2/+9I see an opening for Walmart.
- Vidar01, on 10/11/2009, -6/+13Let's ALL be honest. The only reason we clicked on this story is because we thought it was about zombies.
- cyberclown, on 10/11/2009, -0/+7$1,500.00 for a cremation here in Iowa 3 years ago and if you are the closest living relative you get the bill.
- rocknog, on 10/11/2009, -2/+9I'd gladly dig a hole to bury a dead person for free. Does that make me an evil person?
- Gndoab, on 10/11/2009, -1/+7it's both.
- haydenk, on 10/11/2009, -0/+6Cremation services average $1000 compared to at least $5000 for burial. It may not be a preferred method but at least you can grieve properly instead of just leaving the body at a city morgue to be dealt with.
Memorial services could be managed in the home to avoid costs for using time at the funeral home. - InBonobo, on 10/11/2009, -0/+6How could I NOT bury this story? :(
- deff, on 10/11/2009, -0/+6Viking funeral. Thats how I wanna go.
I don't wanna come back and kill my friends and family when the zombie apocalypse happens - kaelyiesta, on 10/11/2009, -1/+7Got to get past the guns said vultures employ to prevent such independence however. Ever wonder why the funeral and burial system is so expensive? It is because you aren't allowed to do it yourself so you have no choice in the matter. All under the guise of public safety, naturally.
The lobbies wouldn't like it if we were to say, drive out in the middle of a desert and bury our dead on our own. No, that just won't do. The cost would only be 50 bucks to do something like that. - R0am3r, on 10/11/2009, -3/+9I can see it now, a Cash for Corpses Program.
- bcronos, on 10/11/2009, -1/+7Every human that is, and has been on Earth can be stored in one tiny little corner of the Grand Canyon.
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