Politicology ENCORE: Briefly, Perfectly Human
Feb 25, 2026
Alua Arthur, a death doula, recovering attorney, and founder of Going With Grace, talks about embracing mortality and practical ways to prepare. Short, candid conversations about death, rituals and language around illness. Practical tools for planning, supporting loved ones, and prioritizing quality of life over sheer longevity.
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Brother's Death Exposed Bureaucracy's Burden
- Witnessing her brother Peter's last two months showed Alua how isolating dying can be and how little support families receive.
- Navigating paperwork like transferring a car title after his death became a painful, bureaucratic CSI reconstruction.
Religion And Capitalism Hide Mortality
- Cultural and religious fear of death pushes dying and conversations about it to the margins.
- Alua links evangelical focus on afterlife and capitalist optimism to societal avoidance of mortality and pain.
Poor Death Care Harms The Economy
- Ignoring grief and death care costs the economy through lost productivity, burnout, and expensive end-of-life treatments.
- Alua argues death doulas, bereavement leave, and earlier recognition of dying could reduce system-wide costs.
