It's getting harder and harder to understand the level of evil and despair that dwells in the hearts of some of our fellow human beings. My goodness folks, just when you thought you heard it all you see a heart breaking story like the one I am about to write about.
I am sure that most of you reading this have either read about or seen this sad and tragic story by now. A man loses his job out in Los Angeles, and rather than deal with the reality of being without a job in these troubling times, he does the unspeakable; he kills his entire family and then commits suicide.
Chalk up this tragedy to yet another side effect of the bad economic times that we are living through. But since when did losing your jobs mean that you should lose your life? Or that everyone around you who you should hold dear, should lose theirs? There is something wrong with this picture. Is achieving the A-merry-can dream and all the trappings that come with it more important than life itself? If we can't live the A-merry-can dream, does it then become pointless to live at all?
Look, like most of you, I enjoy my career and my job, I really do. But if I were to lose it all tomorrow I am pretty sure that I would not take out Mrs. Field and then redecorate my carpet with my blood and brain matter. I would like to think that I have a pretty good grip of reality and what is important in my life, so ending my life would not be an option, no matter what happened.
Sadly, I suspect that before this economic downturn is over we are going to see many more stories like this one. And the sad truth is that we have seen them before. Just a few months ago an almost identical scenario played itself out in yet another California neighborhood. (What's in the water out there in Cali?) But to be fair, it's not only Cali, and these things don't only happen in bad economic times. There is a sickness and depravity in the hearts of some that boggles the mind. I am not religious, but I suspect that people who are will try to find a religious explanation for all of this. There is good and there is evil, and the people who commit these acts are evil. But if they are all evil, how do we explain the many people who say that these monsters were good neighbors, or good family men, or good co-workers, or whatever. When exactly did evil take over? And is the loss of a job enough to trigger evil?
There are some who will tell you that it is. That having a job and working is such a fundamental part of A-merry-can life, that losing your job would make going on with your life pointless. Okay fine, take your life, and go off to that great unemployment line in the sky, but please, go alone.
01 27 09
ReplyDeleteHey FN:
This is a very tragic story. People get depressed and their world narrows. When you are in that state of mind, you are out of options. It is a peculiar thing, the human mind. But when people feel like they are out of options and have no hope, they do things like this. Southern California has seen at least five cases like this since December. This saddens me.
People are more important than money. The human soul knows this to be true, but gets hampered with all of this conspicuous consumerism and keeping up with the Jonses.
I will be praying for their families.
Lastly, I know you aren't religious, but you invoke terms that come from a religious background like good and evil. I suppose this knowledge is universal.
This man is coward...I dont know why they took the easy way out...If you can't find a job, move to where you can find one..Plus, this if the first website I saw picture of the family....
ReplyDeleteMaterial things was more important to this man than the soul of his family....
I know time is hard...but he could got some assistance from some one...I will beg for my family if I have to for my family..not do them in...
Isn't California is the most realized state for recycling...go pick of bottles or some cans..dont murder your family...Heck call on Jesus if you have too...
Darn, I hope he rots in HELL.....
These hedge fund tools and Supply side economics assholes who caused this should pay for their funeral and fund scholarships in their honor.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Barack...or the mayor of LA or anyother Dem use the bully pulpit to express outrage? That's what the people who put them office want ALONG with results.
This is so sad. I really feel for the family members they left behind.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Mahndisa on the complexity of emotion & depression...the human mind is a a a miracle, with madness ever lurking.
I'd like to be optimistic, not imagine any other stories like this. Prayerfully it will function as a wake up call more than a suggestion to others in similar situations.
Terrible. It looks like Blacks have found equality on all levels in this society. We have a Black President and now we are killing our whole familes like the crazy White folks in Fly over states are known to do. Ain't equality a bitch?!
ReplyDeleteThis really saddens me!! I can not believe it. Statistics show that when the unemployment # rises then crimes rates do the same.
ReplyDeleteListening to all the news commentary the last couple of days about families/communities loosing their jobs really makes this particular story come to life.
We are bound to see more of this as the Great Depression II comes about.
I just heard a news report that 500 more Arkansans lose their job.
I just gave my two cent worth of blogging bit on this one.
What else can we do field?
These are very desperate times, Field. And for some, more desperate than others. The man could not continue and rather than duck out and leave his family in the lurch, he took them with him.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was evil. I think the man had run out of hope and alternatives, and society was not offering him a way out.
I grieve for these people. But there are millions more like them in this country. And there will be millions more as this "recession" wears on.
A Black man did this! WTF has the world come to.
ReplyDeleteField,
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop killing ourselves over those who care nothing for us. What about the 92 year old in MI that froze to death because they turned off his electricity. I'm glad the president today took the 200 million out of the bill for condoms. 340 billion dollars that is just plain pig and not going to help one of the poor who has lost their job, losing their homes and commiting suicide. While the American people all set around doing nothing, writing nobody, screaming or whatever like Gone With The Wind on methadone.
By the way are you going to do a post on all those fires up in your area? Its bad enough people killing each other, now they are burning people out!
This is not about the "economy". Don't let the photo fool you. This man was most likely selfish, controlling and abusive beforehand. He was a deranged selfish abusive coward. Why the f--k don't these people just kill themselves quietly in a corner someplace and leave others out of it?
ReplyDeleteHe should have done his family a huge favor and guzzle some cyanide or electrocute himself to death in the shower. If the bastard even had a life insurance policy, maybe they could have cashed in before it ran out at the end of the month.
We're seeing more and more of this across the country as Americans feel increasingly hopeless and out of options.
ReplyDeleteCrime is rising. In New York City, people describe the crime on the streets as "the early 1980's all over again."
It's going to take years to clean up the carnage left behind by Bush and the Republicans. I hope we survive as a nation until it turns around.
That man was a damn dumb ass and I don't buy it for one minute that losing a job would cause someone to heinously kill their own family.
ReplyDeleteThere are PLENTY of organizations he could have went to help the family's economic situation but he took the coward's way out.
There's more to the story than meets the eye.
poor children
ReplyDeleteI hope he burns in hell
Word, La Incognita!
ReplyDeleteI bet his family had been afraid of the asshole way before this happened, and I bet there was at least one family member who saw this coming.
I'll be glad when black folks cut Jesus loose and start thinking for themselves.
This man has enacted the most extreme example of what we all enact living in the culture of "keeping up with the Joneses". Yes, it seems like an extreme example, but it really is the truth. He lost his job and the shame of not being a MAN and providing his family so they can EAT, he couldn't see beyond that shame and lost his mind. Now, in my life, I've seen adults take themselves out for the very same reason, but never saw them include their spouses and children. That's the part that disturbs me most.
ReplyDeleteCA has a run on these.
ReplyDeleteI assumed he was white when i heard the story. The last family was Indian. A woman burned her house with her in it because the sheriff was coming to move her out. She couldn't see herself homeless.
It is just sad.
OMG...that family was beautiful!!Field it just doesn't look good bro!
ReplyDeleteGo
And it is only going to get worse. That is what people dont realize. God help us all!!!
ReplyDeleteI was just about to blog on this. The economy is really creating a dire situation for folks. There's a 50-50 chance that i'll lose my job sometime this year.
ReplyDeleteAnd this shooting was the 5 such incident in the last year.
This country doesn't leave you with many options....although I don't think this is really a viable choice in any circumstance.
And this isn't happening in a vacuum... you had the elderly woman who robbed a bank a few years back because she needed the money for healthcare... you had the elderly woman who shot herself in the chest last year because she came to the conclusion that she ran out of options, and you had the parents in Nebraska who were dropping their children off at hospitals in droves (one guy leaving all of his kids because he couldn't cope). Then there is the 93 year old WWII vet who they let freeze to death. About 2 or 3 years ago there was the family in Philly (or was it Chicago?) who all burned to death except one... because a candle fell over....they apparently had to burn candles for light and heat...after the power was shut off. These stories are becoming more and more common.
And they say things are going to get worse before they get better.
But it shouldn't get to this point in the richest nation in the World. Billions of dollars going overseas, while food pantries are drying up and millions of families are running out of hope and options right here at home. It's why I toss and turn at night. I can't understand it. Especially knowing that just a few billion could help mitigate the foreclosure problem and could extend and increase unemployment benefits. There should also be an effort to retrain workers who lose their jobs...and help them with placement (like a Federal Office of Training and Placement Services)...to help match people who need work with possible job opportunities.
The bottom line is... this Country has to reorder its priorities. Something drastic has to come out of Washington DC... whenever you have Americans who are making these kinds of choices... something has to be done.
I was going to ask the rhetorical question... is the U.S. becoming a third world Nation? But I realize that in many ways... we are already there.
Americans are used to a certain standard of living... many don't know how to deal with hard times.
ReplyDeleteI thank God that I have grown up on both the rough and the smooth side of the Mountain. So hard times are nothing new to me. I know what going to bed hungry and not having good clothes feels like. I have a relationship with Government cheese and powdered milk that goes way back. But some people get so used to living the American Dream that they don't allow themselves to see any other option.
And when you are talking about men... the issue of pride comes in. Some men feel that losing a job means they can't be a man... because they can't support their families. And to a large degree... this is correct because this is how society measures a man. And the embarrassment of that is sometimes too much for them to deal with. So then they create these irrational options for themselves (limited options). If they can't be seen as strong men taking care of their families.. then the only other option is to take the family with them in a suicide (and they don't see it as murder-suicide...where they are doing something wrong or deplorable... they see it as a family suicide....taking the other family members with them so they can be together).
It's not just men though... a couple of years ago... St. Louis had a woman who did the same thing. A single mother...who thought she came to the end of the road and had no options.
I swore this family was white. Man, this is...wow!!! Black folks don't kill themselves because they lost a damn job. Stand in line negro and rob a bank. At least you went out like a man trying to feed his family.
ReplyDeleteThis absolutely blows my mind.
Field, I wish I hadn't logged on tonight. May God and the universe except the kids souls.
I heard this story somewhere, the radio maybe, but I never thought it was a black man and his family. It's just like the DC Sniper, I never thought he would be black either. I guess there is some sort of strange sense of equal opportunity thing going on there.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think losing a job or the economic downturn had any real factor in this man taking the lives of his family and his own. That's just an excuse for something that he probably would have done for some other reson later on. He was obviously a psycopath, someone who could hide his insanity from everyone while he waited to let loose on society or the nearest and dearest at the time of his choosing.
The only thing worse would be John List, the monster from Jersey, who had a sham of an upper middle class life & when it started coming apart killed his family & then managed to have a whole other life elsewhere until has caught through America's Most Wanted.
ReplyDeleteThe TV said that both he and his wife were "fired." So I guess that a week later they found that they were even going to get unemployment?
ReplyDeletePlease tell me who it was that said "I been broke many times, but I ain't never been poor." Now would be a good time to look in the mirror and say "I ain't poor!"
Statistics show that a woman who has breast augmentations is more likely to commit suicide. So is it really all just about the appearances?
I'm pretty much feeling what La~Incognita said. Heartbreaking that he had to murder his family to justify his end to himself.
ReplyDeleteBut it makes me think of kids in school, the ones who slip between the cracks because nobody notices they're disappearing.
Current school strategies call for every kid to have an adult who will not let them disappear between the cracks. Do you think it's possible to mount some kind of adult support system that's similar?
Yes, I know, kind of a radical "brother's keeper" idea, but since when have we been supposed to stop caring about our neighbors?
I should sign this piece "old fart sociology major who blames every social anomaly on the ubiquitous automobile," and somehow, I think I might be close to the truth! Mobility has really torn us apart.
*tear*
ReplyDeleteIf you want to do something, send the rethuglican leadership a letter, maybe along with this story and tell them to stop holding up the economic recovery package. They are voting today. You can go to the GOP website to get their email addresses and phone nos.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting watching Obama as he tries to haul the country out of the economic morass created by 8 years of Republican rule.
ReplyDeleteHe keeps reaching out to the GOP and they just tamp him down. Like their opposition to his economic stimulus plan.
These conservative douchebags would rather see the country slip into a Depression than support the new, Democratic president and his agenda.
Why do Republicans hate America?
I still can't figure out if I should feel sorry for this guy or wish he rots in hell.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone said: it's sad.:(
Wow....what a sad story yet we know there will be more. I always think when I hear these stories there is more to the situation.
ReplyDeleteAfter all who hasn't lost a job at some point? But to take your life and that of your loved ones is just crazy. Then again in the past decade we have ramped things up so that folks feel they must have XYZ.
Sad and yes like others I really would not have thought it was a Black family. Then again race doesn't insulate us from human tragedy.
have you read the stories? this guy was FIRED because he was a fraud in some child-care application. both he and his wife were fired.
ReplyDeletethis had NOTHING to do with the economy. and please "a black man did this?" as, if, it's ok for a white person?
At first glance this seems to be as you would have it the “mean ol repbubs” fault because this HARD working Dad did all he could do and because of Bush it caused too much grief. BUT, like sooo many times on this and other liberal blogs you want..no need to blame someone else for your troubles!
ReplyDeleteThis guy lied to his employer along with his wife and they both got fired! Also his neighbors said of him that he was a “keep up with the Jone’s” kind of guy. And the guy even has a criminal history of course this I’m sure is just simply because he’s black and has nothing to do with disobeying California state law?
All I’m saying is that before you start playing the blame game like so many of you do …….
Christopher….He keeps reaching out to the GOP and they just tamp him down. Like their opposition to his economic stimulus plan.
Did you know Chris that part of your precious obama’s stimulus package is to spend many building a waterpark in Florida? And like many of you have despaired over the previous year please elect obama he’s going to end all the fighting and killing.
You’re like so many others in this country…..the problem not the solution!
snakekiller
"A black man did this?"
ReplyDelete"Black people don't kill each other because they lost their jobs!"
Etc...
No... we just kill each other when another black man gives us a stare that challenges our so-called masculinity, or when another black man steps on our $200 pair of Jordans by accident.
I don't quite understand the shock and awe, and I'm puzzled by the fact that we seem more concerned for the fact that he is black, than the fact that this was clearly a man with a loosening grip on reality - so much that he thought it necessary to not only end his life, but take those of his family as well.
Yes, surprise, we black people have psychological deficiencies just like everybody else.
It's pretty simple - when you live for your "stuff" and events take place that may cause you to lose your "stuff"... it suddenly appears you have nothing to live for.
ReplyDeleteThis guy was in the medical field, and so was his wife I am sure he wouldn't have been unemployed for long. Not to mention with all those kids he probably qualified for food stamps and housing assistance
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Maria mentioned some more of the facts concerning this story. The man and his wife were BOTH fired for failing to report outside employment to their "main" employer. Resulting in their termination. In the letter he wrote before taking himself out he stated that him AND his wife both felt it best they do things this way and not leave their children behind. Can't speak for the wife but if that were the case, they were both sick individuals. Not just dude. So this isn't really about the economic downturn because this couple would have both had their jobs still if they had been completely honest. I feel most sad for the children.
ReplyDeleteAs I get older I'm starting to sound more and more like my old man.
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard this story on the news this morning, the first thing I thought was "I hope they weren't black."
So, so sad. The children.
Breaks your heart.
Yeah. I don't buy the "victim" version of this story that the failing economy drove this man insane. There was something already insane about him and he found an excuse to commit an atrocity.
ReplyDeleteIf it was really the economy and he loved his family, he would have gotten a fat life insurance policy and then drove his car off a bridge.
(Oh God. I don't mean to sound rude. But I'm not feeling sympathetic for him right now. For all we know, he could have an undiagnosed mental condition.)
====@====
Hawa, author of Fackin Truth Blog and Cleanse Master Remix
There's something I've learned in life and that's when people do this type of stuff, they were rotten from the get-go. Good men don't lose their jobs and kill the people they love: they face reality and deal with it as best and positively as possible. That man had a dark side and losing his job was just the thing to push him over.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Eddie. This man had a beautiful family. That alone is reason enough to live! There had to be a dark side to this dude. When I think of how many people would love to have a baby, and he had 5 that he wasted...? Makes me ill.
ReplyDelete"I still can't figure out if I should feel sorry for this guy or wish he rots in hell."
ReplyDeleteField, comedian Dave Chappelle likes to say, "Keep it real!" But what happens when keeping it real becomes too much?
Let's face it, most of Americans, even most of African Americans, have become accustomed to a highly-materialized lifestyle with cars and a fully-furnished, warm homes and clothes and water and quick food at the ready. Now that folks are losing their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their stocks and hope that things will ever get better, some just don't know how to handle...
This is becoming reminiscent of people jumping out of windows during the depression-- except this got became so despondent that he took his own family with him. I think he didn't want to remain alive to suffer. Yes, I know it was wrong, but, from his point of view, in his own despair, he may have been doing what he thought was best for his family.
I understand the shock, awe and pain but not the judgment. The old saw was that only white people committed suicide. That hasn't been true for a long time if it ever was.
ReplyDeleteHe cut some corners on an application. Wrong but we've all fallen short of the mark. Keeping up with the Jones's is unwise. So let's stop holding the wealthy up as gods and role models and build the wealth in our communities.
We don't know that he was a psychopath or abusive in the past. We don't have to "other" him. Everyone is not strong. And we don't know our own breaking points.
There was a woman in my condo complex who was reaching out for info about refinancing. People shied away from a helping hand. Now we have a vacant unit that invites trouble. Let's reach out and help. And don't kid yourself, the resources for the homeless, medical care, etc. are LIMITED. Think about what would happen to you and yours. Check out the local United Way web page and local social services agency to see how real it is. Be blessed but remain aware.
Yes Field Negro, this is a sad story, all shootings are sad stories and I pray for the members of victims. I'm glad to read that you have posted killings on your site, it brings the darker side of life back to us. I see your Killadelphia side post, keep it going maybe it will help fight crime. In this case murder/suicide was as you stated 'the unthinkable' and to see that photo you posted breaks my heart. I cannot agree that the man was evil, from the fax that was sent to the station, I can say that with help this could have been prevented. Taking the life of children is 'sick' but we have to go farther with this case, were talking about five of his children and his wife. This is INSANE not evil.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone is under this stress/condition/pressure PLEASE seek help, taking you life or others is not the answer.
I Bullet Am Sorry
Did you know Chris that part of your precious obama’s stimulus package is to spend many building a waterpark in Florida? And like many of you have despaired over the previous year please elect obama he’s going to end all the fighting and killing.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous/Snakekiller,
My precious Obama?
Dipshit, my precious Obama and another 69,456,897 million voters representing 52.9% of all eligible voters or 365 Electoral votes.
And who do you think was the better alternative? The Borg Queen? The Old Coot?
I'm a successful blogger who gets more than 2,000 hits a day and I've been posting at The Field Negro for sometime and I don't recall any of my readers or anyone here ever saying "Obama going to end all the fighting and killing."
Sounds like you're laboring under diminished expectations because this is what YOU hoped for.
God this is sad, another man killing his family because of his twisted ego.Regardless of his situation, he had no excuse and deserves no pity.
ReplyDeleteMy sadness is reserved for the children because their parents didn't give them a chance at life.
These cases always seem have one thing in common: a aggressive, total control patriach. Women that do this seem to have differnt reasons.
This type of murder happens within all races but seems to occur mostly in immigrant based families with strong cultural beliefs so I wonder if that's the case here. We Americans have a tendancy to either run off or become a drug or booze soaked pain in the ass to our loved ones.
I get the impression that there is a lot more to this story particularly about how this man ran his household and how he treated his co-workers.
We'll see.
I was a little sad/down/depressed or what ever you want to call it, matter of fact yesterday until I thought about all the things that happened in the last 2 months. The reason I was feeling funky is that I was thinking I should be in a better place as a person, especially at 38 yo. I got out of my lease from a slum lord within a month after I signed it. The fucker told me to put a heater in the bathroom so HIS pipes won't freeze, eff that, my electricity bill was outta control!I live with my son's mom because I didn't have a place to live so I'm glad we're still cool and that we're still friends - no benefits. I got laid off the Friday before Thanksgiving but I was one step ahead of the game and went back to work a day before Thanksgiving - more money better benefits - especially in these times. Didn't have a car, don't need one in the city, but now I work out in the county so I bought me a car. I have a good family and good friends and all that. But I never let shit really get me down because of my 7yo kid thinks Daddy is a rock star and also no matter how bad it gets..because it's never really that bad.
ReplyDeleteBlacks kill each other every day but this murder-suicide evokes some different set of emotions than does the daily slaughter?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, why are we always comparing ourselves to white folks? Seriously, can you give up your love affair with massa and stop using white folks as the standard of behavior?
Finally, mental illness in the black community is under acknowledged and grossly under treated. Blacks do commit suicide. My step brother did. Black gay youth (males) are particularly vulnerable because black folks tend to be so homophobic.
I agree that his was not a simple case of getting laid off but I still think that at the root of his decision was money. Fact is getting fired rather than laid off in this climate probably would not make for a great job search.
ReplyDeleteI lived in Southern California for six years. It's a different culture out there-- most blacks I encountered were straight up house negroes.
ReplyDeleteMost of the black males had a certain weakness about them, which I couldn't put my finger on. They just weren't the same as the one's I met down South and along the East coast.
Field,
ReplyDeleteI dealt with people who had mental illnesses before selling out to my comfortable cubicle in Corporate America.
I have to agree with several posters above: I think there were many things going on in this man's life before he shut his lights out and those of his family members. His job was the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back.
I do think, however, that economic conditions will push an already depressed/over-medicated/spiritually burned-out populace (present in all racial brands and stripes) into self-destruction. I hope I am wrong though.
9:22, here we go: asking the President to respond to everything. The man cannot -- I repeat -- cannot -- respond to and address everything. He is not Moses or Jesus Christ. He is one man who is -- and will be trying to do -- a job only a handful of us can even imagine. The man who took the lives of his family is nothing but an arse-H. President Obama cannot address every arse-H situation and/or predicament that comes along. Good grief.
ReplyDeleteDesperate people do desperate things. When you crank up the pressure on people, some of them will break. Doesn’t matter what kind of pressure it is, enough pressure and anyone and everyone will break. If you haven’t been broken it just means you have never had enough pressure put on you.
ReplyDeleteA normative state of discontent is what some call it. The pressure to conform to certain expectations. That pressure is what keeps some people down.
Field, just read the link on your sidebar about "You white people and your pets." All due respect, but this aint a white people thing... this is a fucking too much money and not enough sense thing. This is the kind of crazy that makes me think if someone spends 155 thousand dollars on a dog in my world, they have given up all right to have that kind of money. Seriously.. Palm Springs... dog cloning... this is dumb fuck rich people behavior... not white people.
ReplyDeleteI too brought into the American Dream!!! Well, I am tired of it. I no longer want this 5 bedroom home 1800mth mortg, 300 mth property tax, 600 peco bill, 130mth cable, 650mth car notes, 130mth time share, 500 mth food bill, cell phone,landline phone, etc,etc. They can take it all. Trust, if I didnt know my limit who knows how I or my husband can break. What triggers a person to break. We dont know unless we walk in their shoes. Thank God, I am strong enough as a woman to shoulder the weight.
ReplyDeleteDear God, please bless the children!!
This man became mentally ill. He was not evil he was sick and he needed help.
ReplyDeleteWe need to create a culture where when you begin to have terrible thoughts you reach out and get help.
Not keep them bottled up inside until they explode out.
This sort of thing happens too much. Iraqi vets with PTSD who kill themselves are another example.
daedalus2u said..."If you haven’t been broken it just means you have never had enough pressure put on you."
ReplyDeleteTrue. Or haven't lived long enough to be severely tested.
This is why I've withheld judgment and condemnation regarding this man--I've lived long enough to know that life can bring a surprise or two to the strongest of us.
People can do some desperate things when their world begins to crumble in front of them.
Yes, even you mental stalwarts that believe that you're beyond doing something this outrageous as destroying yourself and your family--or even the contemplation of it.
Some men, right or wrong, see their families as an extension of themselves, and sometimes, as they go, so goes the family.
This is not an apology for suicide--which is rarely the right path to take--but a statement of empathy from one who has lived long enough to know that life is more complex than we know, and that there's more going on in our world than meets the eye.
Several articles stated that that the man and his wife lied on their application in order to obtain Day care for their kids, therefore their rationalization to lie seemed a practical matter, even if it was ethically improper/wrong. Also the articles merely stated that him and his wife worked in the medical field. I am fairly certain that they were probably not doctors and were probably on the lower echelon i.e. maybe CNA’s, orderlies or material handlers to name a few which don’t make a money—in fact a pittance.
ReplyDeleteAlso, obviously the man was distraught and thus getting fired may have been a culmination of many things that have led him to this awful distress. Of course if you want to infuse race, how about those white women in Texas and North Carolina that killed themselves and or their children and were able to claim mental incapacity as well as the sympathy from the courts, one from her own husband and society in regards to post partum Depression. How about German billionaire Adolf Merckle, who committed suicide and the fact that many more White women in their 50’s are increasingly committing suicide http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27293978/. when that honor is often relegated to young white males. The very worse part is that it’s going to get worse economically and you will see more people committing suicide and that will fall along all racial groups simply because there is no social or communal network if you are not already part of insular community to catch those who will be razed by the fiscal and economical shenanigans of private and federal bodies.
In addition, as other posters have mentioned, Mental Health care is an area in the Black community which is not talked about and many Black people are suffering from Depression, Schizophrenia, Bi-Polar, PTSD and other serious mental health conditions that go untreated because they are undiagnosed. Working with gay an indigent populations I see it all the time. In Healthcare, most healthcare providers will likely site a physical cause or not even treat a Black patient who may need mental health care as opposed to White patients, therefore in addition to the Black community being grossly uninformed they must also face stereotypes and racism from healthcare providers which makes it unlikely for Blacks to actively seek out mental health care. This is I believe one of the main reasons why the jails are filled with black men and women.
Finally the manner of his death is horrific and killing his children is beyond unconscionable, but I wonder why when White people do it it’s different, but when Black people do it is evil. There is something more here than a selfish and irreverisble act of self indulgence.
An abusive, tyrannical man? Probably. But what if his note was earnest? What a uniquely American rationale--rife with consumerism and class aspiration--for committing suicide. I can no longer afford the mcmansion, suvs, and private school tuition so my only option is to murder my family so they won't be made to suffer the depravation of- gasp!- renting, used compact cars, and attending public school with other black children?
ReplyDeleteThe guy looks a lot like John Allen Muhammad, the DC sniper.
ReplyDeleteI too brought into the American Dream!!! Well, I am tired of it. I no longer want this 5 bedroom home 1800mth mortg, 300 mth property tax, 600 peco bill, 130mth cable, 650mth car notes, 130mth time share, 500 mth food bill, cell phone,landline phone, etc,etc. -------------------------------------------------
ReplyDeleteDayam!!!! You need to downsize - fast!
"5 bedroom home 1800mth mortg"
ReplyDeleteWhere the hell do you live?
I WISH my mortgage was $1800 and propoerty tax $300 a month!
That was what I was thinking, Steve...
ReplyDelete"An abusive, tyrannical man? Probably. But what if his note was earnest? What a uniquely American rationale--rife with consumerism and class aspiration--for committing suicide. I can no longer afford the mcmansion, suvs, and private school tuition so my only option is to murder my family so they won't be made to suffer the depravation of- gasp!- renting, used compact cars, and attending public school with other black children?"
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. If there is anyone who should not be sold onto the American Dream, its Blacks. For historical reasons and the nature of this society. I know this is America and that is the way it goes. But this culture of indiviualism and the pursuit of personal happiness aka wealth goes against the grains of history. There is a serious need for more community. This is just the beginning. Next expect black serial killers to increase.
I have blogged about the metabolic stress that I think can lead to postpartum psychosis and infanticide. As I see it, becoming infanticidal can be seen as a "feature", a feature that you might need when times turn really bad and either your child dies and maybe you reproduce another time when things get better, or you die and your child dies shortly thereafter leading no descendents. Remember, none of our ancestors died before leaving descendents. Those who left no descendents are no one’s ancestor.
ReplyDeleteThey are brutally hard decisions that our physiology forces us to make because only ancestors that made the correct choices survived those brutally hard times in our past.
http://daedalus2u.blogspot.com/2007/08/low-nitric-oxide-acute-psychosis.html
(warning, some of this is very disturbing)
I also chalk this up to men thinking of their wives and children as objects...property to be dealt with as the owner sees fit.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised to learn that the guy was black. Here I thought that My People pretty much had the serial killing occupation to ourselves. Is this maybe the revenge for Eminem?
ReplyDeleteGrinder:
ReplyDeleteLOL!
I agree with those who say he was weak and that this was not about the economy. Things are not that bad! I live in Saudi Arabia and you should see how hard the 3rd world nationals who come here, work. They make very little, are away from their families, and they live in horrible conditions siliar if not worse than slavery. Working from Sun up to sun down is their reality. These same people you will never see without a smile on their faces.
ReplyDeleteMay his financial crisis was the proverbial 'straw that broke the camels bac' but if it was not this it would have been something else.
Pathetic!
This story really broke my heart. Big time!
ReplyDeleteTafari
I have been in semi-retirement for 10 years and on a credit-card DIET, I now enjoy a certain FREEDOM from useless indebtedness. My family and friends laugh that I live like an "Amish", and I say--IS THAT SO BAD??? We could learn a thing or 2 about their way of life, INDEPENDENT on anyone or anything for their modest lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThis man must have had mental health problems long before this moment to have the capacity to do such a thing. Not like comparing is fair, but I've lost my job before, when I was in my twenties making lots of loot and at the prime of my life. It did pull the rug out from under me. I was depressed. I remember taking a really long drive just to go somewhere. Maybe it's a difference between how men and women typically process things. Who knows the circumstances leading to the layoff. That might've been the straw for him, but I still can't relate to the homicidal suicidal pyschopath kicking into gear as a result. This is one of those stories that still has me scratching my head.
ReplyDelete