This episode is just another example of what STAR TREK always did so well - take a relevant issue and explore it through the lens of an "unbiased" third-party - ie, the future generations. Sure, it is written by modern-day authors ... even so, it's informative to see how a more "enlightened" generation might handle a topic like euthanasia.
Incidentally, this concept is based loosely on a novel written in the 1880s by British novelist Anthony Trollope called THE FIXED PERIOD. In that novel, the leader of a new (fictional) British colony has passed a law requiring men at the age of 67 be put away into a tenement, and later euthanized before the age of 68 - for the same reasons, that the elderly burden the young. The story of the novel follows his attempt to carry this law out for the first time. Fascinating read, and recommended if you liked this episode.
Incidentally, this concept is based loosely on a novel written in the 1880s by British novelist Anthony Trollope called THE FIXED PERIOD. In that novel, the leader of a new (fictional) British colony has passed a law requiring men at the age of 67 be put away into a tenement, and later euthanized before the age of 68 - for the same reasons, that the elderly burden the young. The story of the novel follows his attempt to carry this law out for the first time. Fascinating read, and recommended if you liked this episode.