People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
Today's "suicide cluster" article really got me thinking, as did the recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett. These are very recent and aren't hard to find this week, e.g.:
There's lots more on that. The word "suicide" isn't mentioned much anymore; did he get 'suicided'?
He warned that this might happen. He said this to people close to him. This isn't much unlike Navalny. Putin has just reiterated the lie that Navalny's death was just some unfortunate accident, never mind prior poisoning attempts. Navalny, aged 47, was eliminated only weeks before the fake 'election' (carte blanche for more war) and years earlier American "tech" companies helped Putin censor Navalny through centralised "stores". They probably wish we'd just forget that. Greed kills dissent, even in hostile nations. IBM worked for Hitler.
Half a year before the invasion of Ukraine:
Anyway, back to John Barnett, who dealt with corporate accountability, not global politics.
So basically it looks like he got 'Epsteined'. For those who don't know what that term means, it's murder disguised as a suicide, typically to protect rich and powerful people looking to suppress some embarrassing or legally-sensitive information. In the case of Debian, we don't think anyone got 'Epsteined'. We have no reasons to believe that. However, we do know that stress contributed to actual deaths because overwork (as volunteers, i.e. no pay) begets physical and mental/moral dilemmas. Why kill oneself or destroy one's body for no monetary compensation? Or worse, for the commercial benefit of some South African oligarch like Mark Shuttleworth, who is liaising with Microsoft to 'monetise' Debian by selling back doors?
I recently discussed this matter with several people and friends, even with my wife. Given the large number of Debian 'cancellations' and resignations, what is one to deduce about the culture? Some people feel remorse, knowing they could do the same work for a salary (like former Debian peers or 'colleagues'), perhaps earning a million bucks in less than a decade rather than toil away for supposed recognition (assuming they don't get "shamed" on their way out, as some have).
The way things look, volunteer work inside toxic communities can have fatal consequences.
There is suicide, "driven to death" (mental or physical factors), and something in-between. There tends to be an interaction, I've just told someone, as the things are intertwined. The duality is two-way and can become a loop. Diet, health, depression, lack of appetite, lack of sleep etc.
One leads to another and then there is mental or physical breakdown. I never experienced that myself (fortunately), but I know some who have. In some cases, stress can lead to overeating (depends on the person), which leads to obesity. For some, sleep deprivation isn't the issue; they just become lethargic and unproductive. The leader and founder of the original Pirate Party (Sweden) told me he had suffered a mental breakdown. He was no longer able to do very basic things.
None of this is rocket science. The science and psychology behind it is centuries-old stuff. It's easy to grasp and to explain.
Sometimes overworking leads to health conditions, some without cure, and then comes suicide. Because there is no longer an expectation of a long life. I'm not sure how Robin William fits into this. I forgot the pertinent details, but some bruised people prefer to die "fast" 'with dignity' than to be remembered as vegetables, people fed by family members or through a tube etc. Some choose euthanasia, which France now seriously looks into. Playing catch-up with two neighouring counties where 'euthanasia tourism' became a thing?
The West (broadly speaking) developed regulations for working hours because of an understanding of human biology, not excluding the mind. In Techrights we cover a lot of this in relation to ILO, ILOAT, and EPO. At the EPO many workers are injured, then thrown away. Some threw themselves from the top of buildings, even during working hours (an extreme form of protest). The EPO management responded by bolting the windows shut.
Last night I saw this in the news: Excessive Sitting Raises Risk of Early Death: Now We Know How Much
This can be alarming for many people who work in IT or even those who do clerical jobs in mostly seated positions.
The Debian health crisis would go hand in hand with a string or cluster of suicides. But this isn't a Debian issue per se; one might say it's a Free software issue (no separation between home and work) or an "IT" issue or a remote work issue ("remote" as in work from home).
Sometimes people forget that humans evolved to walk around, gathering food, not just sitting down all day, chewing away or nibbling at a pizza while typing on a keyboard. █
