I think that’s not necesarily so - fear, yes, but that exists in al cultures - lack of courage - no. From what I’ve seen, suicides can be the result of people who don’t know what to do with their strengths, because they are or feel trapped in a society that only allows and endorses certain types of people.
You can of course say that suicide in such a case is still avoiding the problem.
In my opinion, it is understood of mistaken form that a country with an elevated rate of suicide indices is a country where it is lived bad. It is not necessary more to see the graph to realize that significant supposedly prosperous countries occupy place between the first positions and very poor countries with more ignorance occupy the last places of the table:
And the high suicide rate is about men. where is in this case men courage?
Maybe in the case of the men, also they influence cultural factors like the (machismo)ºsexist . Before the impotence to feel incapable to solve the problems of his home, nor to remove ahead to his family, the man finds the solution disappearing.
The women however, tend us to depress and to relieve our problems crying or telling them to a close friend or relative. we have the feeling that our family need us. On that base, is very rarely adopts these conducts. but is most common the less courage for women principaly in high ignorance groups with the abort case
Dan,
Suicide is most rampant in highly industrialized countries. I agree with Jakob. It is no more of a matter of cowardice than it is of misrepresentation, of values which do not include. Roman soldiers who fell on their swords were not cowards. Abbe Hoffmann was no coward. Anyone faced with the moral dilemma between quality and quantity of life and chooses quality is no coward. “Longevity is nice, but. . .”–MLK
I think your question is misleading Dan. I believe it should be, “How do we escape the problem.” “Problems” are mere specks of dust in our eyes. We can and conveniently do blame suicide on any one of them but “lack of self-esteem” for example is “by any other name” the feeling of a black hole, the void, inside. The point at which we see more black than white is the moment of suicide.
B-S mentioned a graph of sucide rates showed they increase with wealth and the reason seems pretty obvious to me. If we are poor we find purpose in struggling to survive. The richer we become the less we think about how to survive and the more we think about why. That is the problem we are trying to escape.
The great irony of life is that in our effort to prevent the “black” from becoming larger than the “white” by filling it with all that money can buy, we are committing mass suicide.
i think if you dont care wether you live or die and theres a cause to fight for then that person will fight for that cause with his/her and if necessary die for it.
I must add, that the word “courage”, to me, has a different meaning then it does to others. Opening your heart and admitting things honestly, for example, requires more courage then the act of combat does.
But I am talking about the deep inner, not the common outer.
The black-hole which preceeds suicide, is self-constructed.
It’s an apples-to-oranges question.
“What is the meaning of life?” = Incorrect.
“What is the life of meaning?” = Getting warmer.
“What is the meaning of meaning?” = Bingo.