I am cleaning up a years old mess and mulling over abstracted inner philosophy as one does. So why do other people care if someone wants to check out, punch their own card, start life retirement. Why would there ever be a stigma or law against such a thing, (other than profiteering from misery). In my attempt to reason why some worthwhile human might find it offensive, independent of outside influences like religion, the only thing I can think of is the idea, “to give up on one’s self implies giving up on everyone else,” like perhaps the person that takes offense does so out of their desire to help but lacks an effective means or opportunity. True/not true, is there some facet I am neglecting? What do you think?
I’ve got a dear friend who’s been struggling with suicidal ideation for years, and there are lots of reasons I don’t want him to, primarily that he’s a force of good in the world. Secondarily, he deserves to know joy and he can’t do that if he kills himself first (then there’s his goddaughter, his writing, getting to watch trump die, coming to visit me in Germany, his work is getting picked up more and more, apple fritters, blueberry picking, going on drives in his beat-to-shit old van, and a hundred other reasons). It’s getting to the age where even my terminally optimistic self starts to think that he deserves peace, but I can’t help thinking that therapeutic attention is the best solution (he was raised too catholic for that, unfortunately). He keeps talking to me and he doesn’t get too annoyed about it, so I’ll keep talking to him until one day, panicked, I can’t reach him, and the world will forever be worse.