Many on this e-mail thread have expressed serious concerns about the entire guardianship situation and ask why should there ever be a guardian appointed.     The answer is derived from the understanding that society has to take care of the people who are unable one way or another to take care of themselves.   This is Parens Patrie and one of the most important concepts of American and English Law.

Long ago we as humans recognized that to toss the elderly and the unwanted out in the wilderness to die was barbaric and wrong.   We recognized that those amongst us who were unable to survive on their own had lives that were as precious as our own.    Ergo, every religion has some system of social justice and aid those who cannot help themselves.    Both the quantity and the quality of the assistance varies and is a matter of conscience, but it exists.