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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >The upper socio-economic class is  
> comprised of a tiny percentage of world population so of course those  
> suicide numbers are small compared to the general population.
> 

The numbers are small for the reason you cite, but the percentages are 
higher.  Not only that, most of the literature points out that suicide occurs 
when 
someone's "realative" income falls, that is, his income compared to what he 
used to make or his peers make.  To wit:

"In  other words, suicide risk rises as relative income falls. "
http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2007/el2007-30.html

Many researches identify this as the reason that a larger percentage of rich 
people commit suicide than poor people.  When you operate on my cash income, 
it isn't going to fall far!  But when go about boasting to everyone how 
successful you are in business and how financially well of you are, you have 
a long 
way to fall and more opportunity to fall.

I take pride and have my identety in how little I can make, not how much.  I 
just bet I can keep that up too.  Not much danger in my suddenly becoming 
rich 
and messing up a good thing.

With all the infomercials directed at the gullible urging them to buy gold, 
the unrivaled storehouse for wealth for 5000 years (although that isn't 
true), 
one thing they leave out is that during all that time every society has 
warned 
that gold and wealth does not equate to happiness, in fact, the acquisitive 
are much more prone to unhappiness than those that just get by.

Put another way, those who look to, let's say, gold coins for security and 
happiness are always plagued by the misgivings that it might not be enough, 
as 
the Preacher said:

"He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth 
abundance with increase."

But when you have a pizza on the table and couple of rare brewskis, you can 
know what it is like to be satisfied.  Why would you want ten pizzas or 
twenty 
beers?  It's enough.  Amen.

Happy birthday, Old Man, celebrate the foolishness you've missed out on!


James