this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2026
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[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not sure how accurate the numbers are but this seems to show suicide rates per 100,000 are at 8.9 for China, and 15.6 for the U.S.

[–] DoubleDongle@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)

That might actually be more about the guns than the despair

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

True, but people who want to die will find a way. When I was younger I remember there was a sudden influx of people who realized you could speed into the back of an 18 wheeler and the hood/bottom of your car would go under, and the payload crate would crush your head/upper body near instantly.

[–] DoubleDongle@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

When you're really depressed, simple barriers like that can make a big difference. I believe antidepressants can sometimes cause suicide because the patient finally feels ready to go out of their daily routine and get it done. And I can tell you anecdotally that if my mom kept a gun in my house I'd have been dead for over 20 years now. But all my options were unreliable or painful, so I just hid in my hole instead.

I agree. I've been 18 for near 19 years now, and have owned at least 1 gun for 17 of them. The 1 year was a choice when I was depressed, not the only time I was... But I understand your thoughts there.

[–] michaelalf@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

Hope you're doing better now. Depression and suicide fucking suck, I've lost too many close family and friends to it. I'm fighting that black dog now too.

[–] joostjakob@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago

Human behaviour is formed by both individual traits and their environment. When there are easy and effective suicide options available, suicide numbers tend to be higher. See e.g. https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/newsroom/news-releases/about-740000-global-deaths-suicide-occur-annually-thats-one

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That number probably doesn't even count the suicide by cop. Lots of black men do stupid shit to get people to shoot them too, Ive heard it said

[–] HCSOThrowaway@lemmy.world -2 points 12 hours ago

Yep. Twice I've had black dudes try to suicide-by-cop on me and twice they failed to achieve it. They apologized afterward, admitting that they assumed the stereotype was true and not only was their death guaranteed but I wouldn't feel anything about it.

Both would have likely just been recorded as "attempted murder" on me and "justified shooting" without their words after the fact indicating they were attempting suicide.

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I also wonder if drugs are as widely available? Some people just take a bunch of pills.

[–] DoubleDongle@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Not sure about pills, but most of East Asia has a special hatred for drugs because of the opium crisis back in the 1800s or so. Sometimes I wonder if all the fentanyl coming from China or made with Chinese precurso ingredients is subtle revenge.

[–] Ariselas@piefed.ca 9 points 1 day ago

ok, so significantly better than the US

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah, that was 16 years ago and I think that was actually highly publicized and ended up changing things in favor of workers.

China also has a very fast justice system where there's no jury so they just put you in front of a judge and then shoot you out back.

But I've just read stuff on the internet and don't have much first hand experience so hopefully people with more first hand knowledge can correct this. Also open to new kinds of propaganda, both sides ya know

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yes, I'm sure their workers rights are so much better now. I'm sure BYD in China is totally different from the near slavery from BYD in Hungary.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 3 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Definitely no wage slavery in the US

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world -1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

We have problems to work on. Things here are far from ideal.

But China is not the right direction. I'd rather be here than China.

[–] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I doubt working for BYD is any worse than working for Amazon. China just has more manufacturing jobs which tend to suck more than other jobs and exploit workers in more visible ways. It is still the case that by most metrics (quality of life, affordability of homes, income inequality, etc.) China is better. That doesn't mean they don't exploit workers or that we should adopt their system, because it has flaws of its own that we can learn from. IMO it was a mistake to require that all labor unions be formalized under the ACFTU (All-China Federation of Trade Unions). By banning independent unions the state becomes a magnet for corruption and a barrier to working class progress. The business community forms relationships with government and is able to exert influence over the ACFTU to control workers. That being said, even a bureaucratic union constrained by the state is better than no union at all because they at least have to maintain the appearance of protecting the interests of the working class.

[–] Serinus@lemmy.world 0 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Contractors hired to build BYD’s factory in Hungary allegedly kept thousands of employees working seven days a week, with shifts lasting more than 12 hours a day,

84 hours a week is worse than anything Amazon has done. And we need to fix Amazon.

This is a perfect analogy. Amazon is bad. BYD is much worse.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 hour ago

People work multiple jobs and can still barely afford rent, our homeless population is way higher, we have the highest amount of incarcerated %of the population in the entire world, etc etc.