"Of course, our government, which declares that it has sole authority over who lives or dies, including the individual citizen, conveniently makes committing suicide a crime, while the aforesaid government's execution of people is legal."
Dear friends,
At this particular time of the year, at least in this country, the holiday season brings a lot of feelings of celebration. However, there are many people who are reminded of loved ones who are no longer part of the living. No mood for celebrating.
Now, to be sure, human beings are the only creatures on this planet who are even aware of our existence. That's why the maintenance of cemeteries is strictly a human undertaking (pun intended. Other creatures have no need for them, since they have no idea that they even exist. That is, all of their actions are instinctual, even though some have the ability to reason and follow orders from humans. Additionally, this world, including people, exists whether any particular human being is alive or not. Ask any mortician.
Nonetheless, the desire to maintain one's status as a living being is reinforced by both mental and motor reflexes for self-preservation. So why do people sometimes consciously bypass the aforementioned mechanisms and take their own lives? Moreover, in a market-driven, possession-oriented society such as ours, where people alienate themselves from both themselves and the fruits of their labor, by surrendering such products or services just mentioned to an employer who will ultimately be the one making the profits from the hard work of the former, how do people persevere? This is especially disturbing, because people in our society are also alienated from each other. For instance, in the newer wealthy neighborhoods, they do not even bother to build sidewalks anymore. We need "community" in this country, more than ever.
To be sure, there is a generation raising children that is so steeped in this possession-oriented culture that ideas of community, and so forth, represent the folklore of generations past. Additionally, it is hard to steer the imagination towards humanity, community, and the common good in a society that holds individualism as paramount. Individualism has its place, but given too much emphasis, it can encourage greed, selfishness and petty materialism, creating serious identity problems along the way.
Therefore, and ultimately, if our youth are to be our future, then it will only happen if we as adults, particularly parents, take the reins of this present culture and provide our children with both an historical and social conscience, and set the example for them, by informing identity through recognition of the connection between generations and defining human life in a meaningful way (as opposed to basing who they are upon claims that cannot even be substantiated, regarding with whom they are having sex, or what "gang colors" they're wearing). That way, our society will benefit from the "leadership" of our youth. As well, the "market" will then be a function of the values of the society, and not vice versa.
Still, suicide is the word used to acknowledge self-murder. However, because we look at everything geometrically, that is, we give shape, form, and substance to phenomena, whether physically, intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually, then our understanding of all things is based upon "dialectical" vision or a "unity of opposites". That means that we cannot know what "hot" is, unless we know what "cold" is. We cannot know what "yes" is, unless we can relate to the concept of "no". Likewise, how can there be murder of others, without self-murder? And each time a person murders has s/he, at least partially, murdered her or his own humanity?
Moreover, is suicide necessarily a bad thing? For example, if an adult warrior, especially a male one, like a soldier or police officer, learns that he has a terminal illness and chooses not to be a burden to his loved ones or anyone else, is it wrong for him to end his life? After all. that it is an old tradition in all cultures and happens all of the time. Besides, that is a decision that has been made by a mature, responsible adult who. apparently, has a genuine "sense of self", and has made a final decision, of his own volition. Of course, our government, which declares that it has sole authority over who lives or dies, including the individual citizen, conveniently makes committing suicide a crime, while the aforesaid government's execution of people is legal. Huh?
At any rate, when children commit suicide other issues come into the dialogue. I mean, unlike the earlier-mentioned warriors, a child has not adequately developed a "sense of self" as an adult has to make that kind of decision about his or her life. That is, "sense of self" requires two criteria to be realized. The are: 1) The person knows what it is like to live alone on his or her own. and 2) The person knows what it is like to accomplish goals on his or her own.
Consequently, being under the care of an adult, a child who kills himself or herself brings great feelings of guilt to the caretaker(s). But is pointing fingers at the aforementioned caretaker(s) fair? For example, when I told her about writing this piece, one of my two daughters, Dr. Namandje N. Bumpus of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, insisted that I should mention that Prozac, the popular anti-depressant drug, is directly responsible for many adolescent suicides these days. Also, she says that both freshmen and sophomore teens at schools like Cal Tech and MIT are still high on the list of teen suicides.
On the link below, renowned journalist Sandy Banks of the Los Angeles Times shares some ideas that are quite thought-provoking, regarding this subject. Cheers!
G. Djata Banks
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1119-banks-20111119,0,3621640,full.column
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