Middle-Aged Despair

Seems like middle-aged suicide is on the increase, and as usual social scientists don't know why, so they are pointing the finger at drugs. Of course, evil only exists in the world due to drugs. Without the heroin, there would be no shoplifting. Without cocaine, littering would be a thing of the past. Drugs are also the reason for inflation, drought, and water pollution.

I don't know about these social scientists. One would expect they would be a little more perceptive of current events. It's the economy, stupid.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out the connection between the lack of good jobs in this country and the suicide increase. Men that have known better times and held responsible positions now find that they can't find any work other than minimum-wage jobs. They fall behind on their mortgages, divorce, go on welfare, lose the hard-earned respect of friends and family, lose their homes, don't have enough to eat, can't afford medical care, and become victims of crime. This goes on for years with no end in sight and no hope on the horizon. No jobs, no money, no respect. And yet they had spent their lives doing all the right things, working hard, attending school. Any surprise they blow their brains out or O.D. on painkillers? Not really. America has always been a very materialist, capitalist society that views people in terms of winners and losers, and nobody likes to consider themselves losers. So death is way of resigning a losing game. Once you're dead, you don't give a damn anymore. Other people can deal with the clean-up of the body and weave crazy theories about how prescription painkillers made you do it.

For my part, I found the adjustment to the modern economy of zero good jobs and no hope to be difficult, but on the bright side, these low-wage jobs are pretty easy compared to the responsible positions I held in the past. I used to work really hard, harder than anybody I know. Now I don't have to use my brain half the time. I use maybe 1% of my intellect on my job. I used to use 100% of my intellect on my job. My job used to keep me up all day, all night. Skull-sweat. I don't think more than two people out of a hundred could have managed my job. But in the new economy, easy jobs are the only kind I will ever get. So I have adjusted to working less, working not nearly as hard, making less money, and trying not to worry about the future, because hey, when you die, you die, right? Other people will have to dispose of the body, and that's that.

I have a good life in some ways, and besides, I've never felt like suicide is a smart move, because one never knows what the morning may bring. The morning may bring something good. I think life has too many possibilities to just give up based on something that doesn't ultimately matter, like money. I could see suicide in the case of someone with a chronic medical condition in addition to not having any money, however, especially if they also feel isolated and alone. Our world just doesn't care. We throw people away. But as long as one has good health, I think it is foolish to throw that away based on something like a bank account balance.

I read in another PBS article that a lot of companies only hire young people, defined as under-30, because they feel younger people are cheaper, easier to handle, and will be with the company longer, and cost less in medical bills. So, I suppose young people may feel smug about things, but the trouble there is that they, too, will get middle-aged soon enough, and then they will find that the same strategy that applies to middle-aged people now will also apply to them. They will get down-sized, right-sized, out-sourced, whatever the case may be, and then they will find that McDonald's is hiring a few good people.