Part 1 and 2
Part 3 beginning
Part 3 end
Part 4 beginning
Because overt coping strategies don't take genetics into account, the endless cycle of self improvement
was useless to John. His judgment was not clouded by depression or despair, but rather both served as a
window of clarity. Genetics and environment were both stacked against him, and this is reason why
some succeed and others fail. It had nothing to do with how hard a person works; improving the lower
essentials of the hierarchy of needs will never bring the inferior closer to the top. Likewise, if one fails
to achieve the zenith of the aforementioned hierarchy, it's only a matter of time before they start to
neglect the needs at the nadir.
John no longer cared about what other people thought, or if ending his life would make him the target
of shame. For starters, he was already the target of shame while he was alive, so if it continued after he
died, then what of it? Such people assert that suicide is cowardly, but this claim is absurd. Most people
do not have it in them to end their own lives, but hide behind the claim of cowardice in order to mask
their own fear.
The fear of the afterlife meant nothing to John, as he held no belief in the possibility of such things. He
was a member of species that always longs to exist, and thus has difficulty accepting that death is final.
From John's perspective, the message was clear: he only existed for someone else's benefit, and what
he wanted or how he felt did not factor into the equation. The irony is that John was taught that no one
owed him anything in life, and yet appeals like this stated that he owed his existence to other people.
Neatly couched in these appeals is the demand to fall in line. It insists on the preservation of positive
reinforcement, both for the masses and the superior, at the expense of those who have been denied it for
most if not all of their lives. The intent of such appeals is to stave off the desire for death, but from
John's point of view, they only made it stronger. As their arguments suggest, the suicidal are seen as
cowards, in addition to being weak, spineless, selfish, short-sided and – as some were concerned – even
borderline sacrilegious.
If this is what they called assistance, then John wanted no part of it. The writings by advocates of suicide
prevention were ultimately scrapped, replaced by German pessimists and Norwegian mountaineers. Those
advocates may have meant well, but they could not defy their own nature, which had predisposed them
from birth to despise the inferior. They were so adamant on saving life that they took little time to
understand it, and for that reason they could give John the help that he needed, let alone any form of
help at all.
John's lifeless body was taken to the morgue, and it would remain there until his family could claim
him. Perhaps then they would arrange a funeral, and invite all of their friends, who only bothered to
show up when they heard there was free food. After filling their stomachs and bragging about their
lives, they would return to their homes and leave John's family to foot the bill.
A bouquet of flowers and a wreath were placed where John fell, but they would wilt and die as his body
now would. He wouldn't even be a memory by the following day, as the lives of those at the city square
would continue to go on.
Part 3 beginning
Part 3 end
Part 4 beginning
Because overt coping strategies don't take genetics into account, the endless cycle of self improvement
was useless to John. His judgment was not clouded by depression or despair, but rather both served as a
window of clarity. Genetics and environment were both stacked against him, and this is reason why
some succeed and others fail. It had nothing to do with how hard a person works; improving the lower
essentials of the hierarchy of needs will never bring the inferior closer to the top. Likewise, if one fails
to achieve the zenith of the aforementioned hierarchy, it's only a matter of time before they start to
neglect the needs at the nadir.
John no longer cared about what other people thought, or if ending his life would make him the target
of shame. For starters, he was already the target of shame while he was alive, so if it continued after he
died, then what of it? Such people assert that suicide is cowardly, but this claim is absurd. Most people
do not have it in them to end their own lives, but hide behind the claim of cowardice in order to mask
their own fear.
The fear of the afterlife meant nothing to John, as he held no belief in the possibility of such things. He
was a member of species that always longs to exist, and thus has difficulty accepting that death is final.
From John's perspective, the message was clear: he only existed for someone else's benefit, and what
he wanted or how he felt did not factor into the equation. The irony is that John was taught that no one
owed him anything in life, and yet appeals like this stated that he owed his existence to other people.
Neatly couched in these appeals is the demand to fall in line. It insists on the preservation of positive
reinforcement, both for the masses and the superior, at the expense of those who have been denied it for
most if not all of their lives. The intent of such appeals is to stave off the desire for death, but from
John's point of view, they only made it stronger. As their arguments suggest, the suicidal are seen as
cowards, in addition to being weak, spineless, selfish, short-sided and – as some were concerned – even
borderline sacrilegious.
If this is what they called assistance, then John wanted no part of it. The writings by advocates of suicide
prevention were ultimately scrapped, replaced by German pessimists and Norwegian mountaineers. Those
advocates may have meant well, but they could not defy their own nature, which had predisposed them
from birth to despise the inferior. They were so adamant on saving life that they took little time to
understand it, and for that reason they could give John the help that he needed, let alone any form of
help at all.
V
John's lifeless body was taken to the morgue, and it would remain there until his family could claim
him. Perhaps then they would arrange a funeral, and invite all of their friends, who only bothered to
show up when they heard there was free food. After filling their stomachs and bragging about their
lives, they would return to their homes and leave John's family to foot the bill.
A bouquet of flowers and a wreath were placed where John fell, but they would wilt and die as his body
now would. He wouldn't even be a memory by the following day, as the lives of those at the city square
would continue to go on.
