One issue where the societal malaise in the UK is most clear is the issue of suicide and/or euthanasia, one of the topics today.
There was a case from earlier in the year, where a lady called 999-emergency and told them how she had "committed suicide" by swallowing pills. The ambulance showed up, took her to hospital, only to find that she had a living will with her which basically said: "I want to die and don't want to receive medical aid."
Note 1: First and most important issue is the fact that suicidal people often don't want to commit suicide in earnest, even though they may act it out. Actually, most of them just want attention, and are not self-aware, because they're ill. I wish attention were a human right.
Think of the proverbial 'person on the window ledge'. You know they want attention first. In Britain, the favourite form of suicide, usually successful, is stepping in front of a train, or subway train. Their dying wish is to piss off as many people as possible (those who will be made late), specifically because nobody cares about them.
The lady mentioned above actually called the ambulance service.
Why didn't she call the weather service?
Why didn't she call the weather service?
Here's a tip or two: If you're depressive and suicidal, some part of you has to realise that there is likely a chemical basis to your problem, soooo, what you're witnessing in your life is not necessarily objective reality. Sometimes life seems a misery, but it's rarely as bad as the depressed person sees it.
Take a university Psych course. You'll find out how depression is often physically or chemically-based, and not a psychological 'reality'. You will realise that depressed people often seek attention, as any lonely person would. If only other people were less self-centred.
However,
If you insist on killing yourself, get an instruction manual (so you don't screw up), and leave the rest of us alone. Don't ask for attention and don't call an ambulance, unless you truly want to live.
Most suicidal people are in fact looking for someone to care about them or for them. Here's where it gets nasty in the me-me days in which we live. Many Brits are more than happy to see the suicidal snuff themselves out, if that is their wish. I actually believe that many Brits would allow their family members to do just that, largely, just so that they themselves could be left alone. They really don't care, and that's a malaise.
I've also learned that 'logical' people should also not contribute to such complex debates. A member of the Libertarian Alliance said that a living will (see above) should be adhered to. See note 1 above, firstly. Next, this Libertarian didn't even see the irony of a "suicidal woman" calling for an ambulance. He didn't even want to entertain the idea of the human psyche being a complex web of emotions.
The Libertarian also didn't even consider the issues which some others hinted at, but not fully. For instance, what if a doctor sees a note like this, and decides not to act? What if he does act and is sued? Is every doctor going to have a lawyer waiting in the coffee shop (like on 'Scrubs'), in case of emergency? Hospitals cannot operate like a court of law.
new Costick law A: if you are being attended to by anybody, especially medical staff, for a 'medical' situation, you cannot sue them for saving your life.
new Costick law B: If you are being attended to by medical staff, you will be treated, so save your religious and other convictions for somebody who cares. In the US, the treatment will follow a thorough checking of the wallet, and verification of health insurance, whereupon the suicidal might get their wish after getting chucked onto the sidewalk.
A young lady in the show said that it is human nature to want to survive. Well, YAAA! So, the desire to kill oneself needs first to be considered as a mental health issue. On my 'Modern Man' blog, I tried to shake some sense into people about this upper/middle-class disease of suicide.
Barefoot street urchins of 19th century Britain didn't have much to live for, not even food, but knew how to fend for themselves, because it's natural to do so. So, people who have never tasted poverty and hunger obviously don't appreciate what they have. Nothing is chasing them, not even poverty, and so they have no fear. They then lose their natural defense mechanisms, which can lead to depression and a loss of the will to live (which often ends up in suicidal tendencies).
new Costick law C: all suicidal people (not to mention obese people) must be sent for 2 months of bootcamp. There, they will either develop the will to live, or be sent off to Iraq or Afghanistan as soldiers to have their deathwish fulfilled.
The very real threat of death should 'wake' some people up. Below, we have the Monty Python sketch where Eric Idle comes into the Colonel's office after just having joined the army, saying that he wanted to leave the service largely because he realised the deadly nature of his work. The punchline: It's human nature to preserve your sack of skin and bones!:If you don't have the will to defend yourself, do something about it. NOW!
If you're "independently wealthy"; if the word millions is very close to your reality, then, give it all away, and start from zero again. I'm sure you'll enjoy the challenge.
watch for Chili Peppers video here:
That's what Jesus was said to have preached. I think the person who wrote that part of the Bible understood human nature very well. The lazy 'rich' are no longer 'human' with the meaning of 'hunting and scavenging to survive'. So, they need 're-education' as to what life is about.
The lasting image I have of such debates in the UK is that there are many people who, at once, don't care about others and hope that others don't care about them. That is the ultimate breeding ground for suicide/euthanasia. Those people think that (largely because they have the money to do so) they don't need anyone else. Unfortunately, that's not how families or societies work.
Human beings, at least modern ones,
need love, attention and communication
almost as much as food.
need love, attention and communication
almost as much as food.
Here, the motto is 'what you give is what you get'.
So, have a nice day, already!
