Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 12 Num. 11
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
In medieval times, "irksome madmen" would gradually accumulate in a town. So, periodically, they would be rounded up, put on a boat, and sent downriver to someplace -- anyplace -- else. Such a boat filled with "madmen" was known as a "ship of fools."
In 1955, in the USA, the population in state hospitals stood at 559,000. By 1984, the number of patients had dwindled to 119,000. This was in part due to Reagan-era budget cuts. Many of the deinstitutionalized became part of the skyrocketing group of homeless persons, estimated to number as high as 3 million.
Nowadays, admission to state hospitals is based more on availability of beds than on need. So, for example, someone "merely" contemplating suicide is denied admittance. It is even common for those who have actually attempted suicide to be refused admittance. In better times, the state hospitals provided sanctuary: you could be allowed in for a month and thereby gain some time to "cool down." Unfortunately, now, with the percentage of "mentally ill" greatly increased, it has become increasingly difficult for them to get care.
We have all sorts of political talk about "getting tough on crime," so that murderers are "well taken care of"; there's no "shortage" of money for dealing with =them=. Yet each year in the United States many more are killed at their own hand than by homicide. (Why aren't the politicians screaming about =that=?) "Somehow," there "is" a shortage of money to help divert those bent on self-destruction away from their horrendous act.
So where's the conspiracy? The conspiracy is this: if the "economy is good" and times are truly "wonderful," then why has the suicide rate skyrocketed in the past 25 or so years? And all the while "there are many steps that might help reduce the suicide rate... tackling such social ills as unemployment, divorce, homelessness, unwanted children, neglect of the elderly, inadequate medical and social services, violence, loss of spiritual values, and the threat of nuclear war. In short, one might reduce the suicide rate by giving people more reasons to stay alive." [1]
As shown by Emile Durkheim, suicides do not occur in a vacuum. Suicides, says Durkheim, are explicable only by the state of the society in which they occur. And since suicide rates in "modern," western, industrialized nations are far higher than in "backward," third-world countries, the question is: Are things really so "wonderful" as "they" keep telling us? [2]
In medieval times, the "irksome madmen" were put aboard a "ship of fools." In our "modern" USA, the "irksome madmen" are given "Greyhound Therapy": a ticket is purchased and they are put on a bus, bound for a distant city. There, they arrive -- homeless, friendless, and alone.
---------------------------<< Notes >>--------------------------- [1] The Enigma of Suicide by George Howe Colt. [2] Le Suicide by Emile Durkheim.
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