Construction Workers are Committing Suicide at an Alarming Rate & RFK Jr. has Proven Himself Not Fit for Politics
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Viktor Frankl helps us in our search for meaning.
Robert F Kennedy Jr promises to not ‘take sides’ with respect to 9/11 if elected president: It’s no wonder the Kennedy family has rejected this intellectual reject.
A bench and a grandmother’s ear: Zimbabwe’s novel mental health therapy spreads overseas: A sympathetic, non-judgmental ear can work wonders.
Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate: When 6,000 people in the same profession kill themselves in one year, we need to do something quickly.
Kareem’s Video Break: Never has the idea of “alternate facts” been cuter. Of course, if you’re still using them as an adult, you’re a crook.
Cyclist fined for kissing wife during Tour de France: He broke the rules—and we’re better for it.
Book about book bans banned by Florida school board: The secret agenda behind conservative book bans is revealed.
Jack Black Sings “Let’s Get It On”: In this clip from the movie High Fidelity, Jack Black does Marvin Gaye’s classic justice.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
What is to give light must endure burning.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Dachau survivor
Before discussing the quote, I want to give some context involving Viktor Frankl. I was talking to a recent college grad a couple of weeks ago and mentioned Viktor Frankl’s internationally bestselling book Man’s Search for Meaning. Though she was an English literature major and graduated with honors, she had never heard of Frankl or his book. I was shocked, as I usually am when important thinkers seem to be swept under the rug of popular culture. Frankl’s book (published in 1946 in Germany and 1959 in the U.S.) uses his experiences as a concentration camp prisoner to explore how people struggling with adversity, loss of dignity, and helplessness find meaning in life. It’s an insightful book that helps articulate our daily doubts and helps us find a way forward.
In the book, Frankl discusses the idea of freedom, which we Americans are obsessed with ranting about. We often talk about freedom and the way children discuss it when rebelling against their parents. They think it means the ability to do whatever they want whenever they want. Technically, it does mean that, but socially, morally, and in terms of personal happiness, it doesn’t mean that at all. Frankl believed that “Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness.” And so he recommended that the U.S. build a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast to supplement the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast. It may sound like a whimsical idea, but as you can see from the artwork above, a statue was commissioned and a location was approved in 2023 in Utah.
Part of my discussion of today’s quote is a lament that Frankl’s wisdom may be set adrift on an ice floe along with other great thinkers (Simone de Beauvoir, Jiminy Cricket, etc.). Hopefully, the Statue of Responsibility will encourage some to read his book.
The other part of my discussion—FINALLY!—is the quote itself. It is an acknowledgment that burning, which is pain and suffering we all experience, can become a source of enlightenment leading us to joy. The catch is that the person must learn how to process that pain and suffering, how to understand it, and then use it to forge ahead. Insight isn’t automatic. It takes some work, some thinking, and some discussing. Just because someone travels the world doesn’t make them any better at understanding people or cultures than the person who reads about them from home. It requires distilling that experience into insight, not just an intellectual slideshow of experiences without meaning.
Robert F Kennedy Jr promises to not ‘take sides’ with respect to 9/11 if elected president (The Guardian)
SUMMARY: Robert F Kennedy Jr has made a startling pledge to not “take sides” with respect to the September 11 terrorist attacks if his long-shot presidential campaign vaults him to the White House.
“My take on 9/11: It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public,” Kennedy wrote on Friday in a post on X in reference to the deadliest terrorist attack ever aimed at the US. “As president I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates.
“But I can promise … that I will open the files and usher in a new era of transparency.”
The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001 after terrorists hijacked and crashed passenger planes into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington DC and a field in Pennsylvania.
Kennedy’s decision to revisit one of the most traumatic subjects in American history came just three days after the noted conspiracy theorist responded to an allegation that he sexually assaulted a babysitter previously in his employ by saying: “I’m not a church boy” and “I am who I am.”
MY TAKE: Who would have predicted that a candidate would arise to challenge Trump’s status as having the most contempt for the American voter? Yet, RFK Jr. aspires to be just that arrogant, dumb, or both. Let’s examine his two recent statements:
“My take on 9/11: It’s hard to tell what is a conspiracy theory and what isn’t. But conspiracy theories flourish when the government routinely lies to the public. As president I won’t take sides on 9/11 or any of the other debates.” Most conspiracy theories are embraced by people unable to understand the complexities of reality. A conspiracy simplifies the issue by giving them a comic book villain and a plot. Since it’s unprovable, they can believe it with impunity. Of course, that’s not how logic works: You don’t form opinions based on what can’t be proven but rather on what can be proven. The inability to grasp that is why democracy is under threat. We do expect our leaders—especially our president—to embrace the basics of logic and reason, which RFK Jr. has proven incapable of doing with this statement. He won’t take sides on “any” debates? Then what good is he?
“I’m not a church boy” and “I am who I am.” He’s accused of inappropriate sexual behavior which he neither denies nor apologizes for. Instead, he seems to admit culpability. “I am who I am” is his answer? He quotes Popeye the Sailor Man as his explanation. This is one of the most disrespectful responses yet. Clearly, he believes he can bluster his way past any accusation the way Trump does. Popeye and Trump are his political mentors?
Bottom line: RFK Jr. is definitely in Trump territory when it comes to lack of logic, intellect, accountability, and respect for women. I don’t mind having other candidates add their voices and ideas to an election, but this guy humiliates himself—and insults us—with every statement.
This Week in Mental Health
A bench and a grandmother’s ear: Zimbabwe’s novel mental health therapy spreads overseas (AP News)
SUMMARY: After her son, the family’s shining light and only breadwinner, was arrested last year, Tambudzai Tembo went into meltdown. In Zimbabwe, where clinical mental health services are scarce, her chances of getting professional help were next to zero. She contemplated suicide.
“I didn’t want to live anymore. People who saw me would think everything was okay. But inside, my head was spinning,” the 57-year-old said. “I was on my own.”
A wooden bench and an empathetic grandmother saved her.
Older people are at the center of a homegrown form of mental health therapy in Zimbabwe that is now being adopted in places like the United States.
The approach involves setting up benches in quiet, discreet corners of community clinics and in some churches, poor neighborhoods and at a university. An older woman with basic training in problem-solving therapy patiently sits there, ready to listen and engage in a one-on-one conversation.
The therapy is inspired by traditional practice in Zimbabwe in which grandmothers were the go-to people for wisdom in rough times. It had been abandoned with urbanization, the breakdown of tight-knit extended families and modern technology. Now it is proving useful again as mental health needs grow.
“Grandmothers are the custodians of local culture and wisdom. They are rooted in their communities,” said Dixon Chibanda, a psychiatry professor and founder of the initiative. “They don’t leave, and in addition, they have an amazing ability to use what we call ‘expressed empathy’… to make people feel respected and understood.”
Construction workers are dying by suicide at an alarming rate (NBC News)
SUMMARY: In a swath of Arizona desert that will soon be home to a multibillion-dollar semiconductor plant, Justin Azbill stood before thousands of construction workers and told the story of the day he almost took his life.
Pressure had been building on Azbill for months at his job as safety director for a large Boston construction firm during the height of the pandemic. Sleep-deprived and overwhelmed, Azbill said he packed a lethal means to harm himself in his lunch sack.
But as he was preparing to leave for work that morning, his daughter asked him to stay home with her that day. He did and the day provided a moment of clarity for Azbill, who then sought out help from a friend.
Azbill, who got his start in construction as an ironworker, has been traveling to construction sites across the country sharing his story as he and others in the industry race to address what they say is an epidemic of suicide among their colleagues — many of whom are under increasing strain amid a nationwide construction boom and a shortage of workers.
“In the construction industry, we’ve generationally been taught that if you talk to someone about a weakness or you’re struggling then you’re weak and you won’t get hired,” said Azbill. “One of the reasons I talk about it so freely is so people know that it’s normal and it’s OK.”
The construction industry has one of the highest suicide rates among professions — with the rate among male construction workers 75% higher than men in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An estimated 6,000 construction workers by suicide in 2022, an increase from 2021, according to the most recent data available. That compares to around 1,000 who died from a construction work-related injury.
MY TAKE: According to the CDC, the suicide rate among the U.S. working-age population has increased by 33% over the last 20 years. In 2021, 37,602 people in the U.S. between the ages of 16 and 64 killed themselves. The two professions with the highest rate are construction and farming, fishing, and forestry.
I don’t have enough room here to do a deep dive into causes and solutions. That information is out there for those interested. But I do want to address a couple of simple issues that we can affect. First, the two professions with the highest suicide rates are populated mostly by males, and males in general kill themselves at least 5 times more than females. Part of the reason is the oppressive idea of the male mystique: We are raised to believe that men should be the strong, silent type who endure whatever slings and arrows life throws at them in stoic impassiveness. We are rocks. But the drip, drip, drip of life’s daily assaults can crack even the mightiest rock. One giant leap for mankind would be to shatter this idea that we can only be loved if we are problem-solving providers always ready to lead the charge. I have been around athletes most of my life and I have seen the suffering that this mindset can cause.
The way to destroy this harmful masquerade that men often feel they are living is to get them to talk more. That doesn’t just mean more words, but also more meaningful words. They have to learn how to articulate their emotional struggles to recognize and overcome them. We have to encourage them to do this or it won’t happen.
What I love about the article about grandmothers and a bench is the simplicity of the approach. Granted it’s not a complete solution—people are more complicated than that. But it is a significant start. People want to express themselves in a non-judgmental environment to someone sympathetic. Most of us feel embarrassed by our needs and vulnerable when expressing them. We need a lot of support to make that leap to open up.
This is especially difficult in today’s social climate as conservatives push for women to take more traditional roles by restricting their rights. The result of that is that men must also take on the more traditional roles with all the damaging baggage that comes with it. It’s a self-destructive path for men, women, and children as history—and these suicide stats—clearly show us.
Kareem’s Video Break
“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” That’s why we have this adorable girl and her version of truthiness.
Kareem’s Kvetching Korner
New name for a feature where I kvetch (Yiddish for complain) about minor things that bug me but aren’t worth getting outraged about. This is where I can indulge my pettiness.
Cyclist fined for kissing wife during Tour de France (BBC)
SUMMARY: French cyclist Julien Bernard has given a light-hearted apology after being fined for kissing his wife during a Tour de France time trial.
The Lidl-Trek rider was made to pay 200 Swiss francs ($223; £174) by the International Cycling Union (UCI) for stopping briefly during stage seven of the race.
The governing body said the fine was for "unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport".
Writing on social media, Bernard apologised to the UCI for "having damaged the image of sport" but said he was willing to pay the fine "every day and relive this moment".
MY TAKE: Elite athletes push themselves to unbearable physical and mental limits to compete at the highest levels. I’m not sure why the UCI finds his stopping to kiss his wife “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour” or how it damages the image of the sport. For me, it’s the opposite. An athlete embraces the idea of the value in competing for himself and his family. That elevates the image of the sport. Of course, this behavior depends on the sport and the circumstances—a basketball player couldn’t just stop in the middle of a game to kiss their partner on the sideline.
I also get that stopping to kiss one’s wife could make the competition seem less professional. That’s why I’m not mad at the UCI for fining him. Bernard knew the penalty and he took it with grace, paying the fine and apologizing. He did what was right for him at the time and somehow we’re all the better for it.
Book about book bans banned by Florida school board (The Guardian)
SUMMARY: A book about book bans has been banned in a Florida school district.
Ban This Book, a children’s book written by Alan Gratz, will no longer be available in the Indian River county school district since the school board voted to remove the book last month.
Gratz’s book, which came out in 2017, follows fourth-grader Amy Anne Ollinger as she tries to check out her favorite book. Ollinger is told by the librarian she cannot, because it was banned after a classmate’s parent thought it was inappropriate. She then creates a secret banned-books library, entering into “an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what she and her fellow students can read”, according to the book’s description on Gratz’s website.
MY TAKE: The book was challenged by the chair of a local Moms for Liberty chapter, despite the district’s own book review committee having already decided to allow it in schools. The school board then voted 3-2 to remove the book accusing it of “teaching rebellion of school board authority.”
Moms for Liberty are too intellectually unequipped to realize that the banning of this particular book has revealed their true secret political agenda. Other books they’ve banned—under the flimsy guise of “protecting the children”—involved books about sex and gender identity. But this ban is about bowing down to authority.
I’m pretty sure that they haven’t read enough history books to understand that the United States was founded on the principle of challenging authority and that democracy is based on citizens constantly questioning authority. If that authority is just, it should be able to make a logical case for its edicts. If it cannot, then those in office are replaced. Instead, the Moms for Liberty and all those sad sacks who are intimidated by them want blind obedience. That’s not this country. And that not only doesn’t protect children, it damages them by turning them into drones of authority. The irony is right there in their name.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist
Jack Black: “Let’s Get It On”
You won’t find a bigger Marvin Gaye fan than me (or “I” for grammar purists). However, I also enjoy covers of my favorite songs by other artists who bring their own talented interpretations. In this case, Jack Black’s performance of Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On” is wonderfully entertaining for several reasons.
First, Black sings the song in the 2000 movie High Fidelity, a screen adaptation of one of my favorite novels written by the brilliant Nick Hornby. What makes this song so effective in the movie is that Black plays a music snob who works in John Cusack’s record store. He believes his music tastes are far superior to any of the customers. His band, Sonic Death Monkey, deliberately plays music that the masses wouldn’t enjoy to prove his own elite tastes. But this climactic scene is meant to symbolize the characters’ gaining insight into the selfishness of their lives. Black’s decision to play a song that everyone loves is a way to show he and the others now see art as a way to unite people rather than promote their egos. It’s a glorious moment.
Second, Black does a terrific job singing the song, reminding us that he’s an accomplished musician as well as a famous actor (as fans of his Tenacious D songs will attest).
Resist much! Obey little! Thanks to Walt Whitman. That has been my mantra for most of my life.
Thank you Kareem for writing about Viktor Frankl. Also having had a friend who survived the camps in Nazi Germany have helped me understand more about pain and suffering of others and to understand my own. The Statue of Responsibility in Utah? OMG! Seems like a bitter joke. Oh Ye Mountains High where the clear blue sky arches over the land of the free. Mormon hymn. The state where all the political leaders, save Mitt Romney, have bent down and licked the boots of the orangeman. The state where you no longer need a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Tina Descovich
Tiffany Justice
Bridget Ziegler
The founders of Moms for Liberty. Ban this Book. Indian River County school board. What a complete appalling joke. First of all, Moms for Liberty is an oxymoron, good old Bridget was caught up in a threesome sex scandal. Hypocrite! But worst of all, Indian River is where my favorite grapefruit is grown. Disgusting. Ban the book about banning the book. Redundant. And of course, they cannot fathom disobedient school children.
RFK Jr. Maybe worms really did eat part of his brain, as he said. His statement about 9/11 is so curious. I have this wonderful picture of him holding a gorgeous hawk when he was practicing falconry as a teen. I kept it because the bird is so beautiful. And I'm currently reading H is for Hawk. Wonderful book about training a Goshawk.
Thank you for the little girl. So cute. She didn't realize that a duck is a bird - or did she?
And thanks also for Jack Black's rendition of Let's Get it On. I miss Marvin Gaye and his music. Always will.
Best to you Kareem, health and happiness. Are you going to Paris for the Olympics? Peace and Love always.
In Victor Frankl’s “The Meaning of Life” he quoted a poem by Ravindranath Tagore. I had no idea who Tagore was. Now I know more about him but here is his poem:
I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was duty.
I worked-and behold,
duty was joy.
It struck a chord with me.
Love trumps hate.