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“If left untreated, you will die in the near future,”
the doctor replied. “The only other option is a singular
treatment regimen available for this particular kind of
cancer. But I must advise you that the treatment is not
easy or pleasant. In fact, it is painful and uncom-
fortable. It requires responsibility on the part of the
patient to stay with the regimen of the treatment, and
will require the curtailment of some of your scheduled
activities. But this treatment has proven quite successful
for this form of cancer, and will probably allow you to
live a prolonged life” (though not “eternal”, for this is
where the analogy breaks down!). “It is your choice,”
the doctor explained, “and I recognize that such
decisions can be difficult. I will not pressure,
manipulate or coerce your choice.”
The man responded to the doctor somewhat
indignantly. “Well, I do not like those options, doctor.
It does not seem fair to me that this should be my only
choice. It seems to me to be exclusivistic, and I do not
appreciate exclusivism.”
The doctor, taken aback by such a response, replied,
“Well, I don’t understand why you think this is
exclusivism. To exclude is to ‘cut out.” You are not

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