Suicide: Does Logic Prevail?
Stan Grimes
November 10, 2008
When one thinks of Carl Sandburg, it´s usually in the framework of the author´s biography of President Lincoln. However, Mr. Sandburg was a fair poet. He authored a book entitled, "The People, Yes." "The People, Yes" was a book length poem and a very poignant one at that. Although redundant and slangy at times, "The People, Yes" possesses an undertow of intensity. Sandburg´s concern for the plight of the common man is apparent throughout this poem, or book of poems.
A fascinating section of this rather lengthy poem is Sandburg´s discussion of dreams. In his opinion, dreams are more powerful than death. He used the example of George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Camera Corporation (Now, simply Kodak). Eastman had millions of dollars and he dreamed about all the good things his money could do for humanity after his death. However, before he made proper arrangements for the dispersal of his wealth, he went into his bathroom and neatly shot himself. Therefore, Eastman´s dream went for naught.
However, Sandburg´s discussion of Eastman´s dream and it´s flight to nowhere has another side to it. His poem reads:
He (Eastman) counted the years one by one up to
seventy-seven, had
Come through one paralytic stroke, had seen
One lifelong
Friend reduced by a series of strokes to
Childish play at
Paper cutting four years in bed and the
Integrity of the mind gone…(page 14)
In my thinking, Sandburg was talking about more than dreams. He was also talking about the dilemma of aging. Eastman was unwilling to face the possibility of suffering more in his life and the possibility of being "reduced…to childish play at paper cutting."
The practice of committing suicide to end a suffering life is a moral issue, which still, today, reaches our newsstands and television channels frequently. Even in today´s complex culture, Sandburg touches a sensitive nerve with this particular poem. The taking of a life reaches into the very craw of humankind and pulls at every moral, emotional, and ethical fiber of our being. The Terri Schiavo Case a few years ago invoked so many thoughts and so many emotions. The human thinker was not meant to be a "taker of life." Instead, we always think in terms of the "giving of life."
To those that believe in a god: We are not gods.
To those that don´t believe in god: We are not killers.
Life is precious to logical, caring, and reasonable people. However, we are guided by our conscience or by the lack-thereof.
A fascinating section of this rather lengthy poem is Sandburg´s discussion of dreams. In his opinion, dreams are more powerful than death. He used the example of George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak Camera Corporation (Now, simply Kodak). Eastman had millions of dollars and he dreamed about all the good things his money could do for humanity after his death. However, before he made proper arrangements for the dispersal of his wealth, he went into his bathroom and neatly shot himself. Therefore, Eastman´s dream went for naught.
However, Sandburg´s discussion of Eastman´s dream and it´s flight to nowhere has another side to it. His poem reads:
He (Eastman) counted the years one by one up to
seventy-seven, had
Come through one paralytic stroke, had seen
One lifelong
Friend reduced by a series of strokes to
Childish play at
Paper cutting four years in bed and the
Integrity of the mind gone…(page 14)
In my thinking, Sandburg was talking about more than dreams. He was also talking about the dilemma of aging. Eastman was unwilling to face the possibility of suffering more in his life and the possibility of being "reduced…to childish play at paper cutting."
The practice of committing suicide to end a suffering life is a moral issue, which still, today, reaches our newsstands and television channels frequently. Even in today´s complex culture, Sandburg touches a sensitive nerve with this particular poem. The taking of a life reaches into the very craw of humankind and pulls at every moral, emotional, and ethical fiber of our being. The Terri Schiavo Case a few years ago invoked so many thoughts and so many emotions. The human thinker was not meant to be a "taker of life." Instead, we always think in terms of the "giving of life."
To those that believe in a god: We are not gods.
To those that don´t believe in god: We are not killers.
Life is precious to logical, caring, and reasonable people. However, we are guided by our conscience or by the lack-thereof.
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