Hero Or A--hole?

[Manifest Destiny]

Passer-By Pushes Potential Suicide Jumper From Bridge In China (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/23/passerby-pushes-potential_n_207064.html)

I understand that people may feel so overwhelmed by their problems that they would like to end their own lives. But suicide should be done privately, rather than making a big show of it.

I'd doubt that I could push someone off a bridge, but I don't blame the passer-by for being royally pissed after being stuck in traffic for five hours because of Her Majesty the Drama Queen.

[Lady L]

:eek: I voted ass hole. WTF :confused:

[Psychonaut]

If the guy had died, then I think the pusher would be an asshole, but since he was OK the guy's a hero! I was in stitches after I read that article. :D

[Electronic God-Man]

The guy wanted to commit suicide right? He was planning on killing himself. But instead, he took up all this time making a big show out of it and wasting other people's time...time that they actually valued as opposed to this guy that wanted to end his own life.

The guy's a hero. Shit or get off the pot is what he said. I agree.

[Eldritch]

On Thursday, he made his way to the Haizhu bridge, where 11 other people have tried to take their lives since April.

An eight-meter fall? That'll injure you permanently, and therefore make you even more miserable, but it won't kill you. Come on.

This guy is a hero. There are way too many people just standing around breathing, unnecessarily delaying their transítion into worm food. This goes especially for all-talk-no-action histrionic pseudo-suiciders.

[Äike]

I voted asshole. Maybe the guy would have climbed calmly down from there after a few hours? But that doesn't matter anymore, because now the guy who was pushed off, has spinal and elbow injuries.

[Sol Invictus]

An hero.

[Vulpix]

Asshole.

[SwordoftheVistula]

This guy rocks, it's about time someone did something like this.


"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interest," Lai was quoted as saying by Xinhua. "They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Exactly! :thumb001:

[Vulpix]

To those who voted hero. I hope for you you never find yourself horribly depressed not able to think straight.

[Spaniard_Truth]

I don't understand what it is about suicide that engenders so much scorn. We as a society are responsible for making someone feel so lonely, neglected, degraded, ostracized, friendless as to consider taking his life.

To then push him, to hasten his departure from the world because his life crashing down is inconveniencing too many commuters is reprehensible.

I understand that in China the individual is nothing and the community is all, but this phenomenon is definitely not isolated to China. It's very common for crowds to gather and bait people to commit suicide. To me it's a testament to why they wished to take their life in the first place: people are cold.

This old Chinaman was right in that the man might not have wanted to kill himself. What he probably wanted was people for the first time in his life to care about him. Sadly that almost never happens, and taking their life is the only option.

But, no, this man isn't a hero. People are so emasculated in daily life that they pounce on any opportunity to feel powerful. In 'baiting crowds', people enjoy the power they wield over life and death. It's essentially no different in this case, only the man took an extra step. Not a nice person.

[SwordoftheVistula]

I don't understand what it is about suicide that engenders so much scorn.

It's not suicide in this case, it's that the guy has gone super-emo and made a public spectacle of himself, causing massive problems for the entire rest of the community. Nothing wrong with suicide of the Japanese style, but the western style emo fake suicides are retarded.


We as a society are responsible for making someone feel so lonely, neglected, degraded, ostracized, friendless as to consider taking his life.

That's ridiculous. The guy got himself into a mess through real estate speculation. If it had succeeded, he would have laughed all the way to the bank, as it happens, it failed. The rest of society didn't force him to take out a loan on a risky construction project. If he had stuck to a regular job with a paycheck, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this mess. If his project had succeeded, the same people feeling sorry for him and saying society owes something to him would have been bitching about how much money he had 'rich making money off of speculative real estate blah blah'


I understand that in China the individual is nothing and the community is all, but this phenomenon is definitely not isolated to China.

The type of modern western 'individualism' of "EVERYONE look at ME! Hey guys, EVERYONE pay attention to ME and MY needs" is not healthy for any society, because the rest of society suffers from bearing the consequences of these self-centered people.



To those who voted hero. I hope for you you never find yourself horribly depressed not able to think straight.

Been there, never created a massive public spectacle or made thousands of people lose hours out of their day.

[Eldritch]

To those who voted hero. I hope for you you never find yourself horribly depressed not able to think straight.

Didn't you once start a thread on Skadi (or was it Althing?) about depression? Or am I thinking about someone else? I've been depressed too, and obviously wouldn't seriously encourage anyone to commit suicide (although I do think the world could do with not quite so many chinkers in it). I voted "hero" just for a laugh.

[Ulf]

Guy wants to kill himself, another guys tries to help him kill himself. :shrug:

He was just trying to help the guy accomplish his goal. If the guy didn't really want to kill himself then he just wanted some attention. If he did want to kill himself he would have been off that bridge 30 seconds after he climbed on it.

He's not an asshole or a hero.

[Absinthe]

I was once in a hurry to go to work, waiting for the bus at the center, and you know how horrible is the traffic in Athens even without unusual circumstances...

I see the bus finally arriving, I was grateful as it was too hot and I was melting, and all of the sudden a swarthy, fat, obnoxious woman jumps in front of the bus and gets in the way.

She sits there like a mule, right in front of the bus, for at least half an hour. She doesn't speak or move or do anything, just sits there silently and does not let the bus move.

You cannot imagine the chaos caused by that despicable gypsy's idiocy, there was an endless traffic line around the center of Athens and all the main roads blocked for more than half an hour because of the crap she had in her head! :grumpy:

Finally, police officers arrive and I think to myself "thank goodness, they're going to arrest her and get her out of the way".

And what do the cops do? No-thing! :eek:

They just try to talk her out of it and move her out of the way, but she keeps still & silent.

I finally left on foot, took me about an hour to reach my job under the hot sun.

Have I contemplated being the bus driver and running her over?

You betcha!

Would I actually do it if possible?

Probably not. I would empty a bucket of shit on her head, though. ;)

[lei.talk]

...all of the sudden a swarthy, fat, obnoxious woman jumps in front of the bus and gets in the way.

She sits there like a mule, right in front of the bus, for at least half an hour. She doesn't speak or move or do anything, just sits there silently and does not let the bus move.

You cannot imagine the chaos caused by that despicable gypsy's idiocy...it occurred to no one
to "rescue" that person
by dragging her from the traffic?

the appropriate attitude and prefatorial announcement
would prevent any one from mis-understanding
the act as an arrogation.

obviously, i have some practice at such. :biggrin:

tell the audience what you are going to do,
then, tell them what you are doing,
and finally, tell them what you have done.

if their perceptions are neatly categorised
for them - it is easily remembered.

[Absinthe]

it occurred to no one
to "rescue" that person
by dragging her from the traffic?

Yes, it did! But with no luck as she was too heavy to be moved against her own will. :D

[lei.talk]

how small and weak are modern greek men?

two or three could not work as a team
for fifteen seconds?

you are responding so quickly because you are at work? :joker000:

[The Lawspeaker]

Are the Greek men really the descendants of the heroes that fought at Thermopylae and Salamis ?
Can't they get up from their seats anymore and remove a desperate women from the middle of a road and drag her to a sidewalk ?

And for that Chinaman that didn't try to pull his depressed countryman to safety and instead pushed him off the bridge: a complete and utter a-hole.

[Absinthe]

how small and weak are greek men?

two or three could not work as a team
for fifteen seconds?

Rule #1:

You cannot move a fat greek woman that does not want to be moved :D


you are responding so quickly
because you are at work? :laugh2:

:wink

[Absinthe]

Are the Greek men really the descendants of the heroes that fought at Thermopylae and Salamis ?
Can't they get up from their seats anymore and remove a desperate women from the middle of a road and drag her to a sidewalk ?
.

Well for the record, she seemed to mentally unstable for anyone to waste his time trying to talk her out of it.

Plus, modern Greeks do not care. They just don't care.

[Skandi]

Hope fully this will discourage other people from doing the same thing, I hate attention seekers.

[The Lawspeaker]

Well for the record, she seemed to mentally unstable for anyone to waste his time trying to talk her out of it.
They could have dragged her to some sidewalk and have her removed by the paramedics or the police. That's why they exist in the first place.


Plus, modern Greeks do not care. They just don't care.
Then Greek society seems to have gone completely down the drain and is beyond repair.

[lei.talk]

Then Greek society seems to have gone completely down the drain and is beyond repair (http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?p=40694#post40694).

[Thorum]

Hero......not because traffic sucks but because HE sucks!! ;)

[Spaniard_Truth]

It's not suicide in this case, it's that the guy has gone super-emo and made a public spectacle of himself, causing massive problems for the entire rest of the community. Nothing wrong with suicide of the Japanese style, but the western style emo fake suicides are retarded.



That's ridiculous. The guy got himself into a mess through real estate speculation. If it had succeeded, he would have laughed all the way to the bank, as it happens, it failed. The rest of society didn't force him to take out a loan on a risky construction project. If he had stuck to a regular job with a paycheck, he wouldn't have gotten himself into this mess. If his project had succeeded, the same people feeling sorry for him and saying society owes something to him would have been bitching about how much money he had 'rich making money off of speculative real estate blah blah'



The type of modern western 'individualism' of "EVERYONE look at ME! Hey guys, EVERYONE pay attention to ME and MY needs" is not healthy for any society, because the rest of society suffers from bearing the consequences of these self-centered people.




It's in the nature of all people to be self-centered. Society strives for the harmonization of egos, an equilibrium of mutually advantageous relationships. But let's not delude ourselves that anyone participates in society for any other goal than self benefit. The people who contribute to and thrive in society are no less self-focused than the misfits they mock. They simply realize/are able to realize their own will via different routes.

The irony is that these self-purported 'selfless' people don't even pretend to care for others. They care about 'society' (which is an entity they support because it furnishes a foundation for the realization of their goals, provides them security etc -- in short, serves them), and not individuals (whose needs are an irrelevance to them, if not a hindrance and inconvenience).

We can't care about people unless they are in some way implicated with our own happiness. We can only care for others in whom we see a reflection of ourselves etc. The issue, a moral issue, is that these people are mocked by people who have a much happier life than they do. It's like going to a cancer ward and making fun of those who have an illness you don't. If you can't sympathize, then don't. But why do people need to reveal the ugly character of their species by rubbing salt in the wound? Mocking them, or even pushing them of a bridge? A heroic man who humiliated a man less fortunate, less internally happy than he was, who was applauded by a society that ostracized him and failed to support him.

I'm not just talking about this case (although financial loss was obviously not the sole cause of his decision to kill himself, but rather a lack of emotional support and a previous state of depression). I'm talking about predictable reactions to every case of suicide. It shows in graphic clarity the nature of humanity. You may treat this as an unavoidable fact of life and not dwell on it, but it's certainly nothing I'd participate in myself.

[Manifest Destiny]

I voted asshole. Maybe the guy would have climbed calmly down from there after a few hours? But that doesn't matter anymore, because now the guy who was pushed off, has spinal and elbow injuries.

The guy was already up there for five hours. Not saying he should have been pushed off, but how long do you wait before you do something?

[Absinthe]

The guy was already up there for five hours. Not saying he should have been pushed off, but how long do you wait before you do something?
That's an indication that he did not really want to kill himself.

So the guy who pushed him, did it only because he was a drama queen, not to do him a favor :p

[Beorn]

Guy_pushes_suicide_jumper_off_ (http://www.machovideo.com/video/Guy_pushes_suicide_jumper_off_14760/)

[Bloodeagle]

A hero is a person who does something admirable that the normal person would not attempt.
This man is a hero in my book! A martyr for all of us self sufficient, anti weak people A-holes!
Attention seekers like this should be ignored until they try to hurt someone else. Then they should be shot!

[Lahtari]

Rule #1:

You cannot move a fat greek woman that does not want to be moved :D

Okay. :D

But there's always the local grocery store or bakery that sells eggs or cake. And with a good luck even water balloons are available. :)

And as for the pusher: he took a risk of prosecution and punishment behalf of the whole community, therefore he's a hero.

[SwordoftheVistula]

It's in the nature of all people to be self-centered. Society strives for the harmonization of egos, an equilibrium of mutually advantageous relationships. But let's not delude ourselves that anyone participates in society for any other goal than self benefit. The people who contribute to and thrive in society are no less self-focused than the misfits they mock. They simply realize/are able to realize their own will via different routes.

The irony is that these self-purported 'selfless' people don't even pretend to care for others. They care about 'society' (which is an entity they support because it furnishes a foundation for the realization of their goals, provides them security etc -- in short, serves them), and not individuals (whose needs are an irrelevance to them, if not a hindrance and inconvenience).

I'm a libertarian myself, but I don't see how refusing to allow some asshole to indefinitely hold up thousands of other people from going about their lives is some sort of totalitarianism. If anything, the elderly fellow who chucked this idiot off the bridge is a triumph for individualism, he brought the situation to an end in a few minutes after the state apparatus had failed to for 5 hours.

[safinator]

Asshole.