The results are in and it’s high time we did something about it. According to the American Journal of Public Health, suicide surpassed car crashes as the number one cause of death by injury for Americans as of 2009. This is unacceptable. I demand the President hold an immediate press conference, touch the corner of his eye three or four times and insist he will do “whatever it takes” to solve this problem. Enough is enough people. I suggest increasingly harsh punishment for those that participate in suicide, even up to the death penalty.
The point of the above was obviously to be absurd. To offer a ridiculous solution to a tragic and increasingly serious epidemic in this country. The point is to hammer into people that what I wrote above is not that distinct from some of the anti-gun arguments going around in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. Suicide is the perfect example to use, because there is no punishment that can serve as a deterrent, there is simply no easy “feel good” solution that Congress can sign into law, smile for the cameras and move on. If we want to deal with the suicide epidemic, we must deal with the root causes. While I am no expert on the matter, I would suggest that three of the most probable causes are: 1) Mental illness 2) The economic depression 3) A population over-medicated on prescription drugs, particularly SSRIs. What I find interesting, is that the above three issues are probably also likely significant root causes of these mass shootings.
In order to get a clear head, I think it is imperative to look at an issue that causes far more deaths than mass school shootings. In fact, the majority of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides. So will banning guns decrease the increased suicide rate in America? I for one highly doubt it. Unfortunately, what I have found in the wake of the Newtown shooting is people that simply dislike guns are using a tragedy to take the rights of others without being objective. It is no different than those that say they believe in freedom of speech until they hear something they don’t agree with.
The Huffington Post covered the suicide epidemic here and I discuss increased military suicides in my piece Army, Navy Suicides at Record High.
In Liberty,
Mike
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What economic depression? Buffett runs the largest conglomorate in the world and said he sees a little improvement month after month, plans to spend 10 billion on cap-ex, and hire roughly 10,000 people over the coming year. And the stock market is on fire and precious metals continue to circle the drain.
It’s totally awesome. Oh, and the defici shrank 300 million last year, and will shrink again this year. As I’ve been saying Mike, there will be no “crises” until the Fed HAS to step away. Until then, the ponzi is going to remain well intact.
Is this comment supposed to be sarcastic?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/chart-day-death-americas-middle-class
Ft. Hood Massacre – Jihadist (mental illness)
Giffords Massacre – Schizophrenic (mental illness)
Colorado Mall Massacre – SSRI user (mental illness)
Aurora Massacre – Mind control (mental illness)
Sandy Hook Massacre – Schizophrenic (mental illness)
barry and the Demons just want to take our guns. I suspect (sadly) that there will be another episode of this before our rulers vote on gun controls.
Hey Mike, is today a good day to buy some more silver?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-18/market-gone-vertically-wild
What’s wrong with “killing yourself?” I really don’t see the big deal.