is high suicide rate for US whites an economic marker?

[NJ Brazen_3133]

The native american community has been battling this for ages now. It does not matter the economic situation. Life is a journey, and all life is precious. Just because you are not the man or woman you wanted to be is not an excuse to kill yourself.

High suicide rate is an indicator of the weakness of our society. It is more existential than just the economy. Look at people elsewhere in the world. They take nothing for granted. Our lowest class has it better than most people around the world. Now, they too have suicides there as well, but again, we are not even at that point in life quality.

We need to toughen up.

[Linda_d]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

The native american community has been battling this for ages now. It does not matter the economic situation. Life is a journey, and all life is precious. Just because you are not the man or woman you wanted to be is not an excuse to kill yourself.

High suicide rate is an indicator of the weakness of our society. It is more existential than just the economy. Look at people elsewhere in the world. They take nothing for granted. Our lowest class has it better than most people around the world. Now, they too have suicides there as well, but again, we are not even at that point in life quality.

We need to toughen up.

Or, maybe the overwhelming 24/7 drumbeat of "news" via the media or the internet, 99.9% of it bad, convinces some people that life isn't worth living. Look at this forum where there's at least three or four threads all purporting to deal with the inevitable economic Armageddon where the entire American economy, and maybe the world's economy, suddenly and instantly collapses. People who think things are going to fall apart at any moment can easily be pushed over the edge by just about anything that goes wrong in their lives, especially when there are shysters and scammers chanting this nonsense like a Greek chorus in order to line their own pockets. Hopelessness leads to suicide.

[Haksel257]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

The native american community has been battling this for ages now. It does not matter the economic situation. Life is a journey, and all life is precious. Just because you are not the man or woman you wanted to be is not an excuse to kill yourself.

High suicide rate is an indicator of the weakness of our society. It is more existential than just the economy. Look at people elsewhere in the world. They take nothing for granted. Our lowest class has it better than most people around the world. Now, they too have suicides there as well, but again, we are not even at that point in life quality.

We need to toughen up.

I hate it when people compare the 1st world with the 3rd world as if televisions and iPhones are the main determinants in quality of life. 3rd world countries usually have a much stronger sense of family, and a closer-to-nature lifestyle. I consider those two things right there the biggest determinants of quality of life, provided you're not starving or diseased. The "higher standard of living" we have is so superficial, I hate to even call it that. When my "high wages" are drained by rent for a crappy one-bedroom, am I really that rich? I'd have a better quality of life living in a poverty shack/outdoors, but building codes won't let me. That's a different issue...

I believe in toughness as a value, surely. But I don't like that mindset when it's taken to the extreme. Because, how tough is enough? It's like a race to the bottom, how horrible of a life can you withstand. I'm not trying to put words into your mouth, I know your point was that life is precious.

The stress of current/imminent unemployment on the mind is immense, and understated. It's different when you have to fight another tribe for food. At least you have a direct goal. When you can't find a job, you are stuck in economic limbo. And the worst part is, you are HATED for it. You have no choice but to go to a homeless shelter or starve, and it makes you naturally feel like garbage.

And then there's my younger generation. You hear it from your teachers and parents, go to college and get a good job so you're not low-class scum! Then you hear it from programmers, don't get into computer science, they pay you decently only in a ridiculous COL area, and they drop you at 35! Then there's the nursing student or would-be medical doctor that wasted his 20s and loads of money for no real chance at a job. So take it from me, it's pretty bleak on my end. I'd rather kill or be killed in the damn jungle than be stuck in this stupid limbo, only to be shamed for it.

As for suicide, it's not just for the weak. It's a ballsy decision, and it's always made after wasting away in seemingly endless suffering for sometimes decades. If there's ANY kind of natural right, it's the right to die. Life isn't always precious, sometimes it's unimaginable, absolute hell. You can't ethically force someone to go through that because of some mantra like "all life is sacred". I prefer to be a realist.