Deaths from despair — suicide, alcohol and drug abuse — have doubled since the year 2000. Experts argue about why this is the case but there is no doubt that America has a culture completely devoid of empathy for people who are going through hard times.
Don’t Kill Yourself, Kill a Jerk
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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You’re not, Ted, I piously hope, suggesting that the depressed and despairing begin their course of auto-therapy by dealing with members of the three branches of the US government ?… 😉
Henri
Of course, as I am sure you are aware, there is a great difference between observing and advocating.
But in the US, this nuance escapes the notice of many both in the media and the public.
Suicide should be a capital offense!
Inappropriate humor aside – it may mean higher mortality rates, but it may also mean fewer murders.
I saw a study once, but not gonna try to track it down. Seems that the non-natural death rate is somewhat constant across countries. One country has 800 murders and 200 suicides, another has 200 murders and 800 suicides and the US (at the time) was about even.
The cartoon explains many of those who are supporting Biden, Warren, and Yang. I am constantly asking myself why these people can’t look after their own interests. How can they possibly think any of those candidates is going to lift Finger One to actually get systemic change done, when there is so much evidence that none of them will do more than, at best, token gestures?
I think people who reach a certain point just collapse in on themselves. They want it to be over, and they just drain. To the point where they can’t even generate rage. At least now, in our “Caden, Molly, use your indoor voices or you won’t get your participation trophy until we get home!” civilization, that’s the case. I think it used to be something like when you got fired, the guy who fired you got dragged into the parking lot and beaten senseless, and the company figured out a way to keep everyone on the payroll. Somehow.
We could always try it like that for a little while. You know, a pilot program. See if it pans out.