Is Cutthroat Capitalism Pushing a Growing Number of Baby Boomers to Suicide?

But blaming egalitarianism no longer works since we now have a new leader in suicides -- ruthless, American-style capitalism. The most recent comparative suicide rate statistics for all age groups and genders show that we have higher suicides rates than Scandinavia: (per 100,000 people) :

• Denmark 11.3
• Norway 11.9
• Sweden 11.9
• U.S. 12.0

If we singly out the male suicide rates, normally three times higher than the female rates, the U.S. clearly leads the pack:

• Denmark 15.3
• Norway 15.7
• Sweden 16.1
• U.S. 20.0

Of course, die-hard anti-socialists still could argue that Scandinavia has become more capitalistic and unequal, while the U.S. is growing more socialistic thereby lowering the Scandinavian suicide rates while increasing ours. However, it's painfully obvious that American inequality is growing more extreme by the day. If the anti-egalitarian mythology were true, the U.S. should have the lowest suicide rates in the world. So maybe, it's time to consider alternative explanations.

A counter-narrative to the egalitarian myth of suicide:

Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers gambled the economy into the ground. Through mergers, acquisitions and leveraged buyouts they're still creating and recreating a form of capitalism that throws millions of older workers out on the street. To enrich themselves, financial elites helped to destroy defined pension plans as well as unions, which provide enormous protections for older workers. Wall Street also helps companies load up on debt that can bankrupt the pension funds that still exist. And now our financial barons are leading the charge for cuts in Social Security and Medicare to pay for the damage Wall Street has done to the economy. In short, the Wall Street version of capitalism makes life enormously insecure for the many, while enriching the few.  

If you're a baby boomer who has spent a lifetime working hard, you could be hurting if Wall Street destroys your job and wipes out your savings. Because you are old, you could wind up lost among the long-term unemployed without much of a chance of ever finding a job again. At the very least, you are under a great deal of economic stress, the likes of which very few Scandinavians would ever experience.  

Do suicide rates go down when Americans fight back?

Perhaps some scholars should test the following hypothesis: Do suicide rates in America go down when empowering movements arise? Did the rate of suicide among African Americans decline during the civil rights movement? Did suicide rates among women and the LBGT communities also decline as these movements emerged? Was there even a dip when Occupy Wall Street took center stage?

In short, what would happen to our overall feeling of self-worth if a major movement emerged to take on the Wall Street plutocrats and their Washington enablers? What if unemployed workers were part of a mass movement for jobs and justice as they were in the 1930s? Wouldn't that make us feel more hopeful?  

Well, a national movement to take back our country from Wall Street sure would bring a smile to this boomer.