Among the saddest news reports that I have seen on multiple television networks, and read about in several newspapers would be the story of a 45-year old man California man with a MBA that could not find work and decided to kill his entire family and himself. He murdered his 69 year-old mother-in-law, his 39 year-old wife, his highly intelligent and successful 19 year-old son (a UCLA student), and his 2 young sons ages 12 and 7.
His financial woes left him making a decision for the entire family that is shocking and sad. It is really unfortunate when this father, husband and son-in-law felt that he had no other resource but to end their lives and not bring shame to the entire family. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/10/06/california.murder.suicide/index.html
When you do all that you can do and when this economy provides you a stretch with no taps on your resume, no interviews, no job leads and no hope to go forward, it leads people to do desperate things. In my opinion, I think the inability to provide for his family, to find a finance job, and to support his son's college education led this man to believe that the only way out would be death. He is the not the first to take such drastic measures and believe that the end result would be best for the family.
In comparison, a 53-year old woman in Massachusetts earlier this year killed herself because her home was being foreclosed on. She faxed the mortgage company and told them that by the time they received her fax that she would be dead. In fact, she did commit suicide. She left a note for her husband and son that the life insurance money from her policy would pay off the debt owed on the house. This is among a growing list of people feeling that there is no other way for them. http://cbs5.com/national/suicide.home.foreclosure.2.778404.html
Similarly, a 90 year-old woman in Ohio decided that the same fate would be best for her. Fortunately, for this lovely woman, she survived and the bank forgave her loan (media attention part of this duty to forgive this loan). I hope that she now gets all of the support that she needs to continue to live in her home peacefully. It is a shame that predatory lending on elderly people is happening all across the US, whose homes are already paid off and paid for.
The value of the house and the refinancing agreement terms for the loan are self-explanatory in the articles provided by USA today, CNN.COM, Ohio.com, Foxnews.com and other agencies. There may be other articles out there that give more details on the refinancing of this lady's home.
Elderly people should not be targeted. That is wrong!
http://www.ohio.com/news/30240349.html; http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/10/ohio-woman-90-s.html
Financial woes, foreclosures, inability to find a job and hopelessness have left many people with trying to reason as to what to do next. The next may be irrational to us but rational for them. It is all sad.
Throughout history, including during the American Great Depression, it has been noted that suicide increases when the economy declines.
I don't believe that the man who killed himself and his whole family did that because of lack of money.
He was obviously very disturbed, and I'm sure that anyone investigating it would find all kinds of other factors, whether it be mental illness, or drugs, or a cult that he belonged to.
Poverty, or just being poor, or not being able to pay all the bills, does not cause people to kill people.
My family has been homeless before, we lived in a car and lived off of peanut butter and water from drinking fountains. We didn't hate each other, or try to hurt each other, we were closer because of it, because we were all we had.
My family has been homeless 3 times in our lives due to unforeseen circumstances. We did not consider suicide as an option. Every culture is different as well. I cannot assume to know that my close connection or the next person's close connection with their families will cause them to make the same decision that we made. I assume not to know the reasons why this man chose to commit murder and then suicide.
Despair, grief, anger, shame, fear, and many other factors have caused people to commit suicide. Drugs, a cult, and mental illness are among a large scope of reasons that people see as possible causes, but none of these could be the reason either. These three would never be the first to come to my mind as to why people are committing suicide. Many suicide victims and those who commit murder-suicides face hopelessness beyond our imagination.
The elderly woman who shot herself and is recovering and the lady who killed herself to allow her husband and son to remain in their home felt hopelessness. They faced a grief and despair that many people share with them and understand, especially in this day and time.
When you work hard and get doors shut in your face continuously and you have done all that you can over and over again to provide for yourself and your family, hopelessness will set in. People take desperate measures.
I know people living trying to stay above water and they are perfectly healthy mentally, emotionally, physically, psychologicall, are drug-free and not affiliated with a cult that just want enough to survive. They have some very serious lows and I could not imagine to know what they are really thinking.
This world is the not the same place it was during the 1930s or even a year ago. Many organizations that are suppose to assist people and help do not. I can tell you from personal experience that assistance is hard to receive, hard to qualify for, limited, and difficult to get extended beyond the limits set forth.
I wish that life were different and people chose life instead of death. But, suicide for some is a way out. It is distressing, but people are more critical than helpful in today's society. That's been my experience.
My family has been homeless 3 times in our lives due to unforeseen circumstances. We did not consider suicide as an option. Every culture is different as well. I cannot assume to know that my close connection or the next person's close connection with their families will cause them to make the same decision that we made. I assume not to know the reasons why this man chose to commit murder and then suicide.
Despair, grief, anger, shame, fear, and many other factors have caused people to commit suicide. Drugs, a cult, and mental illness are among a large scope of reasons that people see as possible causes, but none of these could be the reason either. These three would never be the first to come to my mind as to why people are committing suicide. Many suicide victims and those who commit murder-suicides face hopelessness beyond our imagination.
The elderly woman who shot herself and is recovering and the lady who killed herself to allow her husband and son to remain in their home felt hopelessness. They faced a grief and despair that many people share with them and understand, especially in this day and time.
When you work hard and get doors shut in your face continuously and you have done all that you can over and over again to provide for yourself and your family, hopelessness will set in. People take desperate measures.
I know people living trying to stay above water and they are perfectly healthy mentally, emotionally, physically, psychologicall, are drug-free and not affiliated with a cult that just want enough to survive. They have some very serious lows and I could not imagine to know what they are really thinking.
This world is the not the same place it was during the 1930s or even a year ago. Many organizations that are suppose to assist people and help do not. I can tell you from personal experience that assistance is hard to receive, hard to qualify for, limited, and difficult to get extended beyond the limits set forth.
I wish that life were different and people chose life instead of death. But, suicide for some is a way out. It is distressing, but people are more critical than helpful in today's society. That's been my experience.
The suicide part of your post makes sense, but I think that suicide and murder-suicide are very different occurrences.
I have no idea why a person would kill their entire family and themselves. If someone was stressed out, and even hopeless about financial distress, felt like a failure, I can personally understand how they might consider, or commit suicide.
I cannot even try to understand what would make someone kill their family too. I even get the motivation behind the Colombine kids' murder suicide. But nothing can sufficiently explain a person killing their family and themselves.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude