Suicides Among Middle Aged Men

Middle aged men are committing suicide at an increasing rate, and no-one knows why. However, it does not require any deep insight into the male psyche to see that society as it is presently arranged is no place for old men.

Ancient stories about men and their lives tell us what is apparent to any male as he grows older. The best rendition of this is in the famous story about Iron John as recorded by the Grimm brothers.

In this story, we learn that a man's psyche does not reach full maturity before middle age. By middle age, he is no longer the risk seeking young prince, and he is long past the stage where he was dependent on his mother. He is king of whatever domain he has been able to gather for himself.

However, an ever increasing number of middle aged men have no savings. They have no domain over which they can rule.

Furthermore, middle aged men are not much valued in the work force. Many loose their jobs. Unable to find income and with no savings, they are forced to move back in with their aging parents.

This is in stark contrast to what men are hard wired to be at the time of full maturity. It violates their sense of dignity. It is right out demeaning for a man to find himself still dependent on his mother at the age of fifty.

The rising rate of suicides among middle aged men is therefore no big mystery. However, it raises the question as to how this situation could have come about in the first place. Why is it that middle aged men of today end up poor and dependent on their parents?

The answer to this can be found in the political system of our times. We are told from an early age that the state will take care of us as we grow older. This is extremely comforting for the young prince as he heads out into the world. He does not have to be too worried about failure. He can take big risks. He can even spend it all in the moment.

Seeking out a spouse for himself, the young prince is free to spend more and take bigger risks than he would otherwise do. Mostly unaware of what it means to be a king, as that stage of maturity is far into the future, the prince remains reckless and a spend thrift for years. When full maturity hits, he is stunned and confused. He had no idea what it would entail.

Sorely lacking in savings, the budding king decides to make up for the slack by engaging in even riskier behavior. He has to become rich over night. He has no time to waste. A frenzy of wild speculations ensues, and the result of this is usually ruin.

Think of all the hyped companies and investment bubbles that we have seen over the last century or so. The men who invest their savings in the hype of the day are most likely the paupers of tomorrow.

Buying individual stocks and other trendy investment vehicles is a sure way to ruin. The fact that these things are doing so well at the moment is a sign of desperation, not health.

It is the desperate middle aged man hoping for a final break and payout that is fueling the current stock market and cryptocurrency bubble.

We all know that cash will never grow much in purchasing power. Quite the opposite is likely to happen as our gate keepers and overlords continue to debase the currency. There is therefore pressure on everybody to get out of cash and into something else.

The frantic desperation of the middle aged men is stoked by the political establishment and their banker overlords. It is of course evil to the core. However, there is very little we can do about this.

All we can do is to educate young men of today about the need to be prudent. They need to be told that by the time a man is fifty, they need to have plenty of savings.

Furthermore, the savings have to be in low risk things. A house to live in, cash and gold is the ideal combination. Shares and other more risky assets should be handed over to the next generation as soon as possible, and the next generation has to be told that the dividend earned from risky assets must be moved into less risky assets so that they too will be able to relax when they reach full maturity.

A king has his gold and his house. His children are is knights. It is the knights who do the risky business. They command the risky assets. The king guides the knights from a distance. He supports them with his knowledge of what it is like to be king, and he tells them what he learned as a prince.

A man's daughters are no less knights than his sons. However, a woman reaches a different kind of maturity. In addition to rule over her domain, she has to seek a suitable prince that will mature into a good king. This is a different story, and one that a woman should tell her daughter. A man can only give the male perspective. It is different. It's folly to think that we are the same in this respect.

However, one thing is clear. Few people are organized in the way described above. Men are kept from becoming kings as they are meant to be. The system is stacked heavily against the middle aged man, and this is almost certainly the true cause of the rapid increase in suicides.

But it is not impossible to create a dynasty, a kingdom consisting of a house, some gold and some risky assets spread on the children. Young men should be told of this prospect. It is a beautiful vision. It is what men will crave to be when they reach full maturity, and nothing is as satisfying as to live according to our true nature. A middle aged man, ruling his domain, having his knights spread out in the word and listening to him for advice but otherwise operating autonomously, is as happy as a man can be.