We Can't Afford Suicide  The Way We Live Now: Purely on
assumption. We assume people are living. As far as we know. We
haven't heard any differently. Not since we shut down the
suicide hotlines. It makes the news much calmer, you see.  In
tough times, you have to trim the fat where you can. Sure,
people say we "need" suicide hotlines more than ever, to deal
with the distressed poors always wanting to off themselves. We
have to disagree. Here in New York, we're looking to save a cool
quarter-million by shutting down the suicide hotline. And guess
what? Suicidal people aren't the type to complain. They tend to
just, I don't know, fall off the face of the earth, practically.
If people really wanted the service, they would demand it. And
if they're all running out to jump off bridges and whatnot,
they're not presenting an organized political front, and they
can't expect their whims to be serviced. Suicidal types would do
well to look at people who do get what they want, and take them
as role models. Take Asians,