"Suicide is only one option"?!

      Right wingers have historically been hostile to Social Security since FDR and Congress created it back in the 1930s. In the decades since, they've tried to privatize it, put it on the craps tables of Wall Street or to abolish it entirely. They got their hopes up when Elon Musk's children's crusade, otherwise known as DOGE, came in and created chaos.

     But what came out last January 26th was a new low for even this Sauron-inspired administration. Govexec.com published an article today about the Social Security Administration training its employees to act as crisis workers, which is absurd enough. But at one point during their three hour-long training they were told to tell those with suicidal thoughts that "Suicide is only one option".

     Obviously this alarmed Social Security workers to the point where they went to their supervisors to ask for clarification. They literally couldn't believe what they heard, that the government's official position was that suicide was actually an option. 

     The sheer evil intent of such a guideline is difficult to believe even among us who thought we'd charted the full depths of this administration's depravity and full-throated commitment to evil. 

     I have no doubt that those of us on SS have considered self-extinction as a way out, especially after getting their benefits suspended, delayed or outright destroyed. For many of us, Social Security is our one revenue stream and, if it ever gets interrupted or destroyed, your creditors won't give a damn about the drama unfolding between you and the SSA. They want their money or else.

     Obviously, this DOGE-inspired sturm und drang will give people suicidal thoughts, especially if they see nothing but starvation and living on the streets as their future. I've been there. Several times. When Barbara died in 2023, I literally wanted to die and I stopped taking my heart meds, just waiting for that third and final heart attack to do me a favor and reunite me with her in the afterlife. 

     After all, for reasons I still don't comprehend, I completely lost my fear of death after my first heart attack in 2022. After Barb's death, it got so bad that a Facebook friend of mine called the Hudson, MA police department all the way from London UK to do a wellness check on me. I found another reason to live five weeks after her passing, which I won't go into.

     But if anyone understands suicidal ideations, it's yours truly. 

     Again, right wingers have been hammering away at Social Security partly because they loath the very idea of government that actually works for the people. They love the idea of old people working until they drop dead so they never get on the SS rolls.

     But telling people that suicide is one viable option? People, that's pure, weapons-grade evil. That's one step removed from Soylent Green.

     As most psychologists will tell you, about 90% of those who express suicidal thoughts are really just crying out for help. And if you work in a public or private sector job that deals with the public, you have a responsibility to tell them that suicide is simply not an option and to put them in touch with mental health care professionals who are better trained to handle it.

     Psychologically, those floating ideas of self extinction are among the most vulnerable people in society and they obviously deserve compassion, understanding and easy integration to mental health services.

     They should never be told that "suicide is only one option". If someone had told me that in September, 2023, I would've said, "Thank you" and hurtled myself into the Great Beyond.

     But only a government fully in the service of evil would say that to the most vulnerable among us, to the point of practically encouraging them to kill themselves just to reduce the Social Security rolls. It goes to show in unmistakable terms of how much this government under Trump holds in complete and utter contempt the lives of American citizens, especially those living under the direst pressure.

     And, as always, it's always Republicans who are doing the most damage to Social Security and its recipients, sneering at how it's an entitlement program and a form of welfare, that senior citizens aren't entitled to live out the rest of their lives in solvency and dignity. And it's always those millionaire and billionaire scumbags who will never need Social Security who are the ones who want to steal it from the rest of us.

 

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a trained listener, call or text 988. Visit 988lifeline.org for crisis chat services or for more information.