[christian_gates]

Re: Well Said!

While I think that HST was probably a pretty complex guy, there is nothing "Republican" about claiming that he was incredibly selfish and that his end was atrocious. The context in particular I find to add to the repulsiveness of the act.

Much of HST's behavior was reprehensible, and deserves our censure as a society. Although a little crazy goes with genius, as does selfishness (witness Picasso as a classic example), HST wasn't replicable - normal people couldn't do what he did in life.

In any case, the reason he left the building was that the degredation of his faculties and physical condition had finally reached for him an intolerable point - it had nothing to do with "people like you" or "mentalities like yours". He said as much to his wife.

So you can bash a guy, but identifying his "mentality" as a root cause in HST's death is just stupid, and it doesn't even stand up to 30 seconds of trivial consideration.

cdg

 

[christian_gates]

Suicide is a sign of weakness, and it's usually pathetic.



The Roman Empire (note: not the Republic; small difference) and Imperial Japan both loved it, but I don't think that the general attitudes of the members of either one of those societies had much to recommend them as models for others.



A man unwilling to fight to his last breath is only half a man. That's embedded in the very essence of what it means to be human.



His final statement was much more nihilist than anything else - a philosophy that is repugnant to free, thinking men.



cdg