The mentally disabled should not be killed. They are humans. At the same time, they are absolutely a burden to society and anyone who says they are a blessing is clearly just trying to make themselves feel better about the horrible situation they are in. To minimize their burden to society, the government should run care homes where these people can be taken care of. If people want to take care of their own mentally retarded relatives by themselves, they should of course be allowed but if there are quality care homes, very few will choose that option. Also, as soon as a mental disability is diagnosed, a fetus should be aborted. This should not be mandated by law, just encouraged by society. People whose families have a history of mental retardation should also be discouraged from having children, again, not by the law, just by society. Eugenics is fine as long as it's not racial.
We honor life not only when it is 'convenient' and 'useful' (which is about where a gangster would stand) but especially when it is burdensome. Would it be appropriate to kill people with Parkinsonism or senile dementia for the convenience and prosperity of their heirs? Convenient, perhaps, I would be in far better financial shape had my mother died as the Parkinsonism put her in a nursing home... and had my father died of a broken hip instead of spending several months of a failed convalescence. Such took away whatever quality of life I had over five horrible years. Now that I am 61 and have Asperger's I am practically unemployable, so I have little left to live for.
But such is life for many people -- being broke in a culture that seems to honor only material gain and indulgence and will become even more so in a month.
