Existentialism and Le Suicide Part 3

As far as finding meaning, also In the June 24, 2018, The New York Times was an article titled “The Snake Oil of the Second- Act Industry.” For example, we know that limited education and the closing down of industries in our country has affected many older or 50+ aged individuals. With clever “starting over,” “you’re own second act can actually be the most exciting, freeing and empowered era of your life” marketing, a new scam industry was created. This industry is “for-profit colleges,” and not the community college. These false, slick and unethical consumer operations promote useless and meaningless certificates; and create massive student debt. In this article, one student’s debt was $16,000 and another’s $59,000. Student debt for the middle-aged account for at least 17% of the $1.4 trillion in outstanding student loan debt for people over 50 years old. In fact, people 60 and older are the fastest-growing age segment of the student loan market. Moreover, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 33% of job seekers are age 55 and older. The long-term unemployed rates for people over 55 are triple the rates for those under 25. It’s difficult to find meaning, understanding, and/or not taking on a victim viewpoint in our Protestant ethic, capitalistic economic system when one loses their job, their career, their income and goes into unaffordable debt. Part-time employment, minimum wage, limited education, and paucity of skills results in a high external stress index score. This score correlates with a high internal stress index score as well, as one’s sense of self and sense of identity suffers greatly. For many, work and career make up an important part of one’s identity. That significant loss creates a large void or hole that’s difficult to fill. It’s no wonder that these vulnerable, older individuals, in this stage of their life, are frustrated, angry and stressed. Anger expressed inwardly with self-hate, and destructive impulses can lead to abasement behaviors and even suicide. To Be Continued