4 ms·
Sure, not a lot of substance here. Easy to disprove most of it. -income inequality is higher but so is standard of living. Moreover, suicidality is pretty stro
by squirrelicus 8y ago
Sure, not a lot of substance here. Easy to disprove most of it.
-income inequality is higher but so is standard of living. Moreover, suicidality is pretty strongly inversely correlated with poverty and privilege. If the hypothesis is that people are killing themselves because "wah someone has more numbers than me" the argument crumbles immediately.
-most jobs have always been shit and meaningless. Nothing new here expect maybe a generation that was told they were special when they are not.
- "2 or 3 jobs" but how many hours? Also, starvation wages? Come on. Nobody in America with a job is poor enough to be hungry. To suggest starvation wage in America devalues actual food scarcity globally. Also, again, poverty and suicidality are inversely correlated
- you can thank federally guaranteed student loans and useless majors for driving up the cost and driving down the value of college. Still, having 40k-200k of loans contributing to suicidality... I'd like to see the study. Could be right.
- guaranteed parental leave would help reduce suicides? I mean, we didn't have that in the past. So why does the status quo cause higher suicide rates?
- the medical services coverage is a strange argument with respect to suicidality. We understand and treat depression way better than we did 50 years ago, so why is it worse now? Plentiful mental health clinics even operate on a "pay what you can" model
-paid vacation, see paid parental leave
- why wasn't suicide higher when we worked more hours in the past? In the last 50 years as hours worked hasn't really changed, why is suicidality up now and not then?
- I mean... Leisure time is still a good 6 hours a workday plus weekends and hasn't really gone down. Why don't people who work more for less commit suicide more often?
- this last one doesn't even deserve a response.
Please go on. Maybe you'll get a single reason if you do.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- King-Aaron 8y ago> Nobody in America with a job is poor enough to be hungry. That's an absurdly out-of-touch statement.
- pandem 8y agoI think I heard recently on NPR that an American making minimum wage earns enough to buy 100k kcal per day. (Sorry, no source) If you compare that to countries where people actually starve you should be able to see the difference
- aardvark291 8y ago> earns enough to buy 100k kcal per day Calories alone is a pretty limited view of nutrition. Sure, I could drink vegetable oil or eat donuts for every meal...
- Cthulhu_ 8y agoWhat about being able to rent or buy a house in addition to feeding yourself? Besides, there's a lot of "jobs" out there right now where minimum wage does not apply - the service industry (where it has to be filled by tips, which are voluntary, but if you don't tip you're both 'stealing' people's wages and will get shit treatment), the "gig economy", etcetera.
- mistermann 8y agoI downvoted you, then upvoted you, then unvoted. I think yours and the parent's statement are somehow both mostly correct. I also think there is a bigger point missing, but I'm not sure what it is.
- squirrelicus 8y agoI get it. My post isn't an SF pop culturally appropriate view. And I have my own views on suicidality, the systemic failure of the parents that reared millennials, and the postmodern deconstruction of historical pillars of meaning that human neurology craves. But this isn't the forum to eludcidate those views.
- mistermann 8y agoI would tend to agree with you.
- JDiculous 8y ago> income inequality is higher but so is standard of living. Increased wealth inequality has been shown to negatively impact happiness, whether rational or not. Sure average standard of living may be higher, but that does not negate the negative effects of increased inequality. > most jobs have always been shit and meaningless. I disagree, I think jobs have clearly gotten more meaningless. In the past most people were employed in fields like agriculture and manufacturing, which have a clear sense of meaning (even if they're not pleasant). Now with the service sector being the main source of employment and increases in specialization and bureaucracy, it's gotten harder to feel a sense of meaning than it was in the past. > poverty and suicidality are inversely correlated I'm doubtful of this. I would imagine there is probably a positive correlation between increased debt (relative to income/wealth), losing one's job / inability to find work, and general lack of money for essential things (eg. medical bills) and increased rates of depression and suicide. > guaranteed parental leave would help reduce suicides? I mean, we didn't have that in the past. Women also didn't have to work in the past and could be stay-at-home mothers. Regarding vacation, there is definitely increased competitiveness in the workforce now. Sure vacation law has not changed, but with increased competitiveness in the labor market companies can demand more (eg. less vacation) and people can be more afraid to take vacations out of fear of losing their jobs and not being able to find another one.
- squirrelicus 8y agoI just now realized a bad typo. Should have read "suicidality is pretty strongly inversely correlated with poverty [and strongly correlated with privilege]"