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It's interesting that Junger points to a mandatory draft as an example. Two counterpoints to that would be South Korea and Lithuania, which also have mandatory
by davidlee1435 8y ago
It's interesting that Junger points to a mandatory draft as an example. Two counterpoints to that would be South Korea and Lithuania, which also have mandatory drafts and high rates of suicide per capita.
- wenc 8y agoIt seems to me that both you and the OP are correct. SK has a high level of social cohesion because of the threats it is under (militarily: NK, economically: China, Japan). Military service also creates a temporarily high degree of social cohesion among conscripts. Yet, it also has a high rate of suicide due to it being a competitive, high-pressure society. I'm guessing high social cohesion does not in itself lead to lower suicide rates.
- Regardsyjc 8y agoSuicide by the elderly is one of the big reasons why South Korea has a high suicide rate. Sadly, I heard it might be because the old do not want to be a further stress on families in poverty. So maybe it is due to their high cohesion, very collective culture.