I might participate in New York's Walk to Prevent Suicide

its in june? is anyone raising money or is it just walking?

i'm down.

i'll go.

 

well now I'm definitely not going.

 

Probably because there are too many priests out there who would rather believe a bleeding rectum is a sign of stigmata, rather than one of child sexual assault


Hotwater

 

*sigh*

first off, suicide walks are a way to build awareness and bring support for survivors of suicide (individuals who have friends/family members who passed from suicide).

second, suicide is preventable for many people who would otherwise not "choose" to kill themselves if they received help. When it comes down to it... if you really want to kill yourself, you will. I don't see how bringing awareness to the warning signs of suicide is infringing upon personal freedom. With your line of reasoning, I could argue that not allowing someone to try to save a person from suicide is taking away THEIR personal freedom to try to help a loved one.

 

Right. Well we can sit here and argue semantics all day. But, as I've said, the word 'prevent' rings a few alarms in this brain of mine.

No, you couldn't. Thats not the same line of reasoning.

 

pft, whatever. and now youre deffinetely not getting your surprise. looserr:talk2hand

 

Active disinterest?

lol

 

hahaha. "I contain multitudes".

hell yeah I'm a loser! I still want my surprise.

 

i will grant that walking is somewhat less likely to resualt in death then attempting to fly without wings from the top of a tall building.

if anyone REALLY wanted to prevent suicide they would work to evolve the dominant culture in a direction less tolerant of stress and the contribution of the aggressiveness of gratuitous pseudo-conventionality, beligerance and fanatacism to it.

instead of romantacizing and rewarding excitement, accumulation, and trying to impress each other.

=^^=
.../\...

 

Sounds like a worthy cause.

 

I don't see how to "work to evolve the dominant culture." It sounds swell, I just don't see how to take practical steps.

I'm a materialist so that sounds rather boo-woo to me.

Cultures respond to the material conditions of the society. Consumer cultures such as ours will produce certain traits.

Furthermore, suicide is at least as much an individual thing, as a societal thing.

This is not a cause, this is not a practical solution, it's a statement to a group of individuals who tend to think they are alone, and disregarded.

 

Very eloquent.

 

Kind of funny. Eerily similar to what suicide is.

That kind of social gathering, as much sense of community and support it brings to individuals, offers the exact thing that can help combat the dominant culture that Themnax mentioned .... it offers agency. Of solidarity to a group on a central issue. Agency among groups is key if social change is to be made.

 

I'm actually a little cynical about collective change. I think small, focused, direct change is what we can do.

 

Do you mean on an individual level?

 

I mean small interest groups.

 

Isn't every interest group, apart from the dominant power, a small interest group in relation?

 

Yeah, but you know what I mean, counter-cultural movements espouse world revolution, "cultural" change, etc.

All of these macro things. Macro is a little self-important.

Things like suicide, keeping the library or hospital in your neighborhood open, even write mass mail to your congressman on reverting NAFTA...things like THAT, are different than a rally to "end racism."

 

In terms of the practical effects I agree 100%, but in terms of their structure and role in the discourse of power, and of power structures in general, they are exactly the same.

That is, of course, assuming that the world works in Foucaultian terms of power.

 

See, I have tremendous problems with Foucault.