The headline of this 2006 Salon.com “Since You Asked” column was “What’s the best method for a painless suicide? I am done with life, but don’t want to suffer when I go.”
The steady response over 15 years has been amazing. Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon.com tells me that this column still often ranks as one of Salon.com’s top ten hit-getters.
What is the deal with that column? She called me up to talk about it. It got me thinking. What is the deal with the suicide rate in America?
Norma and I left America five years ago. We don’t live there anymore. Now I live in Italy and look at America from a distance. What I see, from this distance, is a country that does not take care of its people.
Suicide Rates by country:
 Italy |
4.3 | 6.7 | 2.1 |
 United States (more) |
14.5 | 22.4 | 6.8 |
