Not All Suicides Take Other People With Them. And Maybe That's the Problem.

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Interesting approach to drawing attention to the problem of male suicide in Britain. I'm more strangely fascinated with the thought process behind it than offended, but this is a highly offendable world we live in today.

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Brian Doherty is a senior editor at Reason and author of Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired (Broadside Books).

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  1. Evan!

    “this is a highly offendable world we live in today.”

    Especially in Not-So-Great Britain, where all the finger-wagging robotic cameras, etc., make it seem like Demolition Man. And I mean, ferchrissakes, the charity is called “Campaign Against Living Miserably”. I know it makes a cute acronym, but that’s just assenine.

  2. Umbriel

    Actually, I think wider opinion runs to the direct opposite of this campaign. In the wake of the recent Amish school killings, I’ve seen and heard a lot of commentary to the effect of :”Attention all of you out there wracked by feelings of despair and rage and contemplating a violent display — Start with yourself and leave the rest of us alone!”

  3. Eric

    “Campaign Against Living Miserably”

    Isn’t that what suicide is?

  4. smacky

    They said there was world of difference between a suicide bomber intent on mass murder and other suicide victims.

    This should be obvious to anyone.

    The ad campaign isn’t so much offensive as it is offensively inaccurate.

  5. madpad

    I’m clearly in the minority but I thought the ad was clever in an thought-provoking, conciousness(sp?)-raising way.

    I tried replacing it with a U.S. equivalent: “In 2001, 19 suicidal men got our attention. Unfortunately, (pick your number) others didn’t.” Nope. Still not offended.

    But then…

    A: I’m not the type to get all offended over every little thing a marketing wonk comes up with anyway.

    B: I’m not exactly dripping with sympathy for suicide victims (existentially speaking, are they really ‘victims?’). I mean I don’t like seeing people die and I certainly don’t advocate suicide as a solution. And if someone I cared about committed suicide, I’d certainly mourn, go to the funeral, comfort the bereaved and all.

    But on the numbers game, there’s other causes out there with my name on them. Anyway, Brian’s right…it’s too easy to get all pissy over nothing these days.

  6. Buckshot

    madpad:

    If someone you cared about commited suicide you would more than mourn. It’s the worst emotional pain there is, you have no idea.

  7. Legate Damar

    I’m not offended, but I’ve also never lost anyone I knew to a terrorist attack nor anyone I knew more than in passing to suicide. I can see where reasonable (and to me that’s the key, because anyone can get offended over anything if they try hard enough), yes, *reasonable* people who had would legitmately be offended.

  8. RexRhino

    If someone you cared about commited suicide you would more than mourn. It’s the worst emotional pain there is, you have no idea.

    No, I think if someone I loved went on a killing rampage, that would be the worst emotional pain, because you couldn’t morn them because they are evil bastards.

    Really, suicide isn’t a social problem. It is a family problem, or a personal problem. It is sad when someone kills themselves, but it isn’t a clear and present danger to the community. Suicide is voluntary.

    Perhaps, instead, we should learn to respect the decisions of those who have decided to end their life. Isn’t suicide a choice? Who is to say it was foolish or not foolish for someone to end their lives? In traditional Japanese culture, suicide is considered a noble activy, a way to regain honor and self respect if that is taken away from you. Is traditional Japanese culture “bad”?

    I think a lot of the worry about suicide comes from the fact that Catholics, and many other non-Catholic Christians, believe the soul of people who kill themselves goes to hell. Even if people aren’t that religious anymore, the belief still effects people’s view towards suicide.

    All in all, the fear of suicide doesn’t bother me as much as the fear of being murdered, dying in an accident, dying of a disease, or the many other things society could be spending resources on.

  9. madpad

    If someone you cared about commited suicide you would more than mourn. It’s the worst emotional pain there is, you have no idea.

    Actually I lost a cousin to suicide. I assume you’re speaking from experience, Buckshot. I’m truly and sincerely sorry for your loss.

    As for me, all deaths of people I’ve cared about have been painful, sad and the closer you are, the more painful it is. To those closest to some who commit suicide, I can only imagine it holds some uniquely painful aspects – feelings of responsibility, frustration, loss, sadness and anger.

    I am fortunate that I have not been hit like that and I didn’t mean to come accross as trivializing people’s feelings. I was only trying to add to the point about the ease with which folks are offended and a bit oversensitive these days.

    I don’t see this ad campaign as insensitive…quite the opposite. I find it remarkably jarring and somewhat effective.

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