The Pain Is Unpalatable

While I spend a great deal of time on this blog philosophizing about the fundamental questions of existence, there is a world beyond my window in which the pain, misery and suffering of many is unpalatable to the extreme. In many ways, focusing on philosophy is my escape mechanism; by turning inward, I shield my eyes and heart from what is happening on the horizon.

In many parts of the world today, people struggle to stave off starvation. Some are able to buy a little time, but others succumb in alarming numbers.

In many parts of the world today, people are held prisoner by bombs, bullets and war. Venturing outside for a breath of fresh air or a quick trip to the market can turn out to be a deadly decision. For those too afraid to carry on with the routine activities of existence, life quickly begins to look like living death.

In many parts of the world today, people live in squalor. Sanitation is nonexistent. A roof over their heads may be made from salvaged cardboard or rotting wood. Rats and other vermin are their nightly sleeping companions.

In many parts of the world today (including the US), legions of people have no home at all. The meager belongings they still possess are what they wear on their backs and can carry in time-worn bags. The homeless are at the mercy of the elements and, a good deal of the time, they incur the wrath of the local police and those of us fortunate enough to still have a roof over our heads.

And all over the world today, there are people who feel at the end of their rope. Life on earth has become filled with so much anguish and self-doubt that they see suicide as their only viable option. This last point was driven home to me today as I read a very disturbing article, "Death and Joblessness: How Suicide Dogs the Long-Term Unemployed" on CommonDreams.org.

The unemployed commit suicide at a rate two or three times the national average, researchers estimate. And in many cases, the longer the spell of unemployment, the higher the likelihood of suicide.

On online fora such as Unemployed-Friends, the topic comes up often, users finding news reports or hearing tell of deaths in their community, and mourning them. There was the Staten Island suicide, where an emergency medical services employee who thought himself about to be fired posted his final words on Facebook: "I can't go on anymore. I just hung myself." In Anaheim, Calif., there was the man underwater on his mortgage and awash in credit card debt who shot his wife and and one of his children before himself. His two children survived. His wife did not. In Indiana, there was the middle-aged mother who sent her daughter out to buy soda and killed herself before her daughter came back. That happened the day after the repossession of her Chevy Malibu.

Other stories are more apocryphal. In a post that ginned up dozens of comments and thousands of views on Unemployed-Friends, someone reported a father of three in Michigan had killed himself, writing in his final letter, "I am sorry, I have now lost every ounce of pride I ever had. You will be better off without me." (The report of the suicide is unconfirmed.) A colleague told me he knew of a local man who killed himself when his unemployment insurance ended, because when his unemployment insurance ended he had no way to pay his child support.

The stories appear in letters to Congress as well. "My dad, S, killed himself March 16, 2009 because he ran out of money and could not find work. My whole family had been devastated by the economy. He was 61 years old and could not take it anymore. He could not figure out how to keep the electric on, buy food, or keep a roof over his head. A day before his electric was to be shut off, and 2 weeks away from eviction, my dad took the hardest walk of his life. He left a note on the dining room table for my sister and I. His suicide letter said ‘I love you. I had to do this. I ran out of money. I wish you both luck in your lives'. He left the door unlocked with the door key left in the lock. He carefully laid out two suits for us to pick from to bury him in," one person from Forest Hills, N.Y., wrote to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D). "I almost caught my dad in time, maybe another 10 minutes and I could have saved him."

The stories show the deeper wounds of unemployment, and especially long-term unemployment. It is not just the loss of a job, but the loss of community, routine and purpose. It means worse health. It means higher rates of divorce. It means alcohol abuse. All of these are also risk factors for suicide...

We live in frightening times. Despite what our elected leaders say, things are not improving for the vast majority. Our economy is in the crapper and, as former editor of the Wall Street Journal and an Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Paul Craig Roberts recently wrote, "Without a revolution, Americans are history."

What's even worse about dire predictions such as these is that, by standards in much of the world, we Americans still are far better off than most people!!

I don't know about you, but thinking about this stuff depresses me greatly (which, of course, is why I try not to think about it too much). It frightens me because one day I may find myself in a similar situation. My wife and I live on the edge of financial solvency as it is. If not for a whole slew of government aid (SSI, food stamps, mortgage subsidy, energy assistance, property tax reduction, etc.), we would be on the streets like so many others.

To be completely frank and honest, I don't know how well I would cope with not having a place to call home. As a person with autism, I need structure and routine to function -- without either I'm lost. In addition, as an individual with social anxiety disorder, the very idea of being a person lost in a sea of homeless people terrifies me to no end.

So, I write about philosophical Taoism in the hope it will somehow protect me from the horrors of the world. It works MOST of the time, though it doesn't seem to be working as well at this very moment.