BipolarGuy
Enlightened
- Aug 6, 2020
- 1,456
I have read that this forum has users on it that try to intervene in various ways during people's suicide attempts.
I don't know if this is absolute fact because I haven't been on this site long enough to know.
But I thought I'd make a post directed at potential 'pro-lifers', as they seem to be referred to on this site, as well as the issues surrounding it.
This is supposed to be an exchange of ideas, not a heated debate.
Firstly, I guess I am what you might call 'pro-life' as I would much rather my life turn around and be able to enjoy it rather than end my life alone, and probably somewhere out in the elements.
Wouldn't most people rather the former?
In a sense I guess we're all 'pro-life'. When we were young children, I don't think any of us looked forward to the prospect of ending our own lives when we grow up.
To the people who will reply to me and say that they wanted to end their lives when they were young, I too first wished I wasn't alive when I was about 8 or 9.
You've got to be realistic though.
I've phoned the Samaritans before and was told
"well you just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow....you could find a fiver, put it on the lottery and win millions!".
True, but again you have to be realistic. You can't make plans and base your life on a one in 14 million chance of something good happening.
"But you don't know how the next 6 months will turn out".
Again this is true, but after years of things going downhill I'm not realistically expecting everything to totally turn around in 6 months.
Sure, you hear about the occasional story of somebody being very lucky and things working out very quickly and in an amazing way for them. But there needs to be a sense of realistic expectations.
So I've covered the issue of "well things could work out"/"something wonderful could happen tomorrow", so please allow me to broaden the scope of this post...
There are very many reasons why people feel depressed and decide to end their lives: mental illness, physical disability or illness, various life circumstances, etc.
I think it's fair to say that most (not all) people on this site who consider taking their own lives do so because of emotional problems, so let me discuss this.
Humans are not built to live the way we're living.
I am NOT referring to living in houses with cars, air conditioning and shops down the road.
Tens of thousands of years ago (probably not even that long ago), humans lived very much how we're built to live.
Our ancestors did not have to wake up at 6:30am and spend their day playing office politics and doing activities in order to increase the wealth of somebody else, in order that they could earn currency to enable them to give somebody else money so that they could eat, drink, enjoy warmth, and have shelter.
There would have been no judgement made on people, because everybody worked together. They had to in order to survive. There was no bitching about people behind their backs because they didn't have the latest iPhone.
Your self-worth wasn't determined by others based on whether you worked to make somebody else wealthy, while you were barely being paid enough to survive.
How 'successful' you were as a human being would not have been determined by whether you traveled from point A to point B in an expensive vehicle.
Your 'usefulness' to your tribe would not have been viewed through the lens of how much tax you pay.
I could go on, but the point is this:
Humanities priorities are wrong, and the way society today organises itself is poisonous to the soul.
We (humanity) have created a prison for ourselves, and we're so obsessed with how intelligent we are as a species that we don't even realise we've imprisoned ourselves.
We think we're free because we can CHOOSE who we work for. We can choose who we make more wealthy, and this makes us free.
If you don't behave in such a way that perpetuates and supports the system, you'll be considered lazy and a drain on society.
"Oh", I hear you say, "...but the only alternative is communism, and looks what that's done around the world!".
This isn't a discussion about what political system is best, this is a discussion about what is best for people.
Would you say that wild lions live under capitalism/communism?
Obviously they live under neither, in their own society, and yet they're no better or worse off for it.
Think beyond the one dimensional "left vs right" political cage that your mind is stuck in.
Back to pro-life issues....
I understand why people try to intervene with suicide.
People deleting their existence from the universe IS sad, and it IS tragic.
But putting the cart before the horse won't solve the problem.
Emotional issues and suicide is on the rise in a MASSIVE way, and it has a LOT to do with the foundation of how humans are living.
So rather than trying to trap people here, do something about the reason why they got to the point of not wanting to be here any longer.
"So you want me to start a revolution".
Society does need to change because the way it is is soul destroying. But no, big changes seldom happen overnight.
Talk to people and understand their issues.
Campaign for employee's rights, which are being eroded.
Don't judge people just because they're having to access society's 'safety net' because they've fallen on hard times.
Fight for better mental health services, which are shockingly poor worldwide.
It's all well and good trying to save somebody's life at the point that they're trying to end it, and I understand why you do it.
But as I said, putting the cart before the horse helps nobody in the long run.
Lastly, I'll leave you with this famous quote, which I find amusing:
Linguam latinam non scio
I don't know if this is absolute fact because I haven't been on this site long enough to know.
But I thought I'd make a post directed at potential 'pro-lifers', as they seem to be referred to on this site, as well as the issues surrounding it.
This is supposed to be an exchange of ideas, not a heated debate.
Firstly, I guess I am what you might call 'pro-life' as I would much rather my life turn around and be able to enjoy it rather than end my life alone, and probably somewhere out in the elements.
Wouldn't most people rather the former?
In a sense I guess we're all 'pro-life'. When we were young children, I don't think any of us looked forward to the prospect of ending our own lives when we grow up.
To the people who will reply to me and say that they wanted to end their lives when they were young, I too first wished I wasn't alive when I was about 8 or 9.
You've got to be realistic though.
I've phoned the Samaritans before and was told
"well you just don't know what's going to happen tomorrow....you could find a fiver, put it on the lottery and win millions!".
True, but again you have to be realistic. You can't make plans and base your life on a one in 14 million chance of something good happening.
"But you don't know how the next 6 months will turn out".
Again this is true, but after years of things going downhill I'm not realistically expecting everything to totally turn around in 6 months.
Sure, you hear about the occasional story of somebody being very lucky and things working out very quickly and in an amazing way for them. But there needs to be a sense of realistic expectations.
So I've covered the issue of "well things could work out"/"something wonderful could happen tomorrow", so please allow me to broaden the scope of this post...
There are very many reasons why people feel depressed and decide to end their lives: mental illness, physical disability or illness, various life circumstances, etc.
I think it's fair to say that most (not all) people on this site who consider taking their own lives do so because of emotional problems, so let me discuss this.
Humans are not built to live the way we're living.
I am NOT referring to living in houses with cars, air conditioning and shops down the road.
Tens of thousands of years ago (probably not even that long ago), humans lived very much how we're built to live.
Our ancestors did not have to wake up at 6:30am and spend their day playing office politics and doing activities in order to increase the wealth of somebody else, in order that they could earn currency to enable them to give somebody else money so that they could eat, drink, enjoy warmth, and have shelter.
There would have been no judgement made on people, because everybody worked together. They had to in order to survive. There was no bitching about people behind their backs because they didn't have the latest iPhone.
Your self-worth wasn't determined by others based on whether you worked to make somebody else wealthy, while you were barely being paid enough to survive.
How 'successful' you were as a human being would not have been determined by whether you traveled from point A to point B in an expensive vehicle.
Your 'usefulness' to your tribe would not have been viewed through the lens of how much tax you pay.
I could go on, but the point is this:
Humanities priorities are wrong, and the way society today organises itself is poisonous to the soul.
We (humanity) have created a prison for ourselves, and we're so obsessed with how intelligent we are as a species that we don't even realise we've imprisoned ourselves.
We think we're free because we can CHOOSE who we work for. We can choose who we make more wealthy, and this makes us free.
If you don't behave in such a way that perpetuates and supports the system, you'll be considered lazy and a drain on society.
"Oh", I hear you say, "...but the only alternative is communism, and looks what that's done around the world!".
This isn't a discussion about what political system is best, this is a discussion about what is best for people.
Would you say that wild lions live under capitalism/communism?
Obviously they live under neither, in their own society, and yet they're no better or worse off for it.
Think beyond the one dimensional "left vs right" political cage that your mind is stuck in.
Back to pro-life issues....
I understand why people try to intervene with suicide.
People deleting their existence from the universe IS sad, and it IS tragic.
But putting the cart before the horse won't solve the problem.
Emotional issues and suicide is on the rise in a MASSIVE way, and it has a LOT to do with the foundation of how humans are living.
So rather than trying to trap people here, do something about the reason why they got to the point of not wanting to be here any longer.
"So you want me to start a revolution".
Society does need to change because the way it is is soul destroying. But no, big changes seldom happen overnight.
Talk to people and understand their issues.
Campaign for employee's rights, which are being eroded.
Don't judge people just because they're having to access society's 'safety net' because they've fallen on hard times.
Fight for better mental health services, which are shockingly poor worldwide.
It's all well and good trying to save somebody's life at the point that they're trying to end it, and I understand why you do it.
But as I said, putting the cart before the horse helps nobody in the long run.
Lastly, I'll leave you with this famous quote, which I find amusing:
Linguam latinam non scio
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