David Kellermann, the Chief Financial Officer of money-losing mortage giant Freddie Mac, was found dead in his home Wednesday morning from what is most likely suicide. His suicide is the latest in a string of self-inflicted deaths of high-ranking business officials in wake of the current U.S. economic crisis.
On the other side of the spectrum, just last week Intent.com featured an article from Mallika Chopra on the ongoing humanitarian crisis that is going on in the agricultural sectors of India: debt-ridden farmers are commiting suicides at alarming rates, even as many as 46 suicide deaths in a single day. These suicides have been going on for many years.
David Kellermann and a poor farmer from India who downed a whole bottle of pesticide have almost nothing in common except for one thing: they both felt that there was no other option other than death. They are both now dead.
David Kellermann’s photograph is all over the internet. Does one David Kellermann death equal 1,500 Indian farmer deaths?
Joseph Stalin once said: "One death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic."
Our human empathy works in strange and convoluted ways. We are a species that can cry openly at the death of a fictional T.V. character, and yet feel next to nothing when we hear that 6,000 people die every day in the world from lack of drinking water and proper nutrition.
And yet, surely our sanity would completely unravel if we reacted with gut-wrenching pain in response to every tragic death that occurred within the world. Our whole world would become a stand-still of mourning.
Where is the balance between apathetic efficiency and paralyzed grief?
I get overwhelmed when I think about this unanswerable questions.
And then, I hear the little voice inside my head: before you put on other people’s oxygen masks, make sure to put on yours first.
I cannot save the whole world, but I can save myself. One small step at a time, I will save others.
Life is precious…
this is sad, but it's the sadness that you mention–that people feel so helpless (regarding money in both cases) that they feel there's no human relief.
This is sad. It's terrible that so many people are feeling isolated and helpless.
Michelle Schoffro Cook, DNM, is a best-selling & 6-time book author
The Life Force Diet, The Ultimate pH Solution, The 4-Week Ultimate Body Detox Plan, The Brain Wash, and Healing Injuries the Natural Way.
http://www.TheLifeForceDiet.com
It is sad to see a being of light return to creation that may have not fulfilled its true purpose. The hard times of this reality seem so real they can sometimes drive us to tears or even death. I try to share with my friends and family that true happiness is created within, we have so much more life to live even if it
Hi Yumi,
I am convinced this is a result of the profits before people paradigm. Now that more are aware how human capital is trashed by this paradigm, we can change it. My idea for changing it is: http://www.intent.com/blog/2009/04/22/one-happy-planet
Love and blessings,
Ed
Hi, Yumi! The American Dairy farmers are also commiting suicide because of the financial pressures. Once they tumble, the rest of the agriculture will fall. Big Chemical is trying to make it so that ALL of our food will be imported. We need to raise awareness! I have interviewed several leaders in the dairy industry and will continue to raise awareness till these govt leaders take the right action.
Thank you for your post! More people need to know what is really going on!
Hi, Yumi! The American Dairy farmers are also commiting suicide because of the financial pressures. Once they tumble, the rest of the agriculture will fall. Big Chemical is trying to make it so that ALL of our food will be imported. We need to raise awareness! I have interviewed several leaders in the dairy industry and will continue to raise awareness till these govt leaders take the right action.
Thank you for your post! More people need to know what is really going on!