Modern America: kill yourself or have a baby
Very interesting read indeed from Alexander Cockburn about the realities of “modern” America. Note especially this:
…the suicide rate among middle-aged Americans has reached its highest point in at least 25 years. The rate rose by about 20 per cent between 1999 and 2004 for those aged 45 through 54 - far more than among younger adults, whose own suicide stats are also on the rise.
The previous high was in 1982, a year when there was a terrible farm crisis in the Midwest.
The second index of desperation is a sudden spike in teen pregnancies, particularly among young black women. As the sociologist Ruth Blader says, “When we believe in our opportunities, we safeguard our futures. Conversely, we behave self-destructively when we have no hope. For many teenagers in America, the options aren’t heartening
How fun, either dust yourself or get pregnant. This certainly put paid to the claims about secularism being a viable alternative.
MENJ is 28/m/BTHO. Pursuing a Masters programme at APIIT, he is currently a full-time ProBlogger and Web Directory Owner. He is also a Muslim Internet activist and student of Comparative Religion, dedicated to combating misinformation about Islam. 
You should know better than to draw an across-the-board generalization about secularism using one secular country (and only one) as an example. Besides, the problems the US faces are not due to secularism per se, but due to the unconscienable capitalism and pro big-business stance of the Republican leadership. And guess who are big supporters of the Republicans? The American Religious Right - who actually hate secularism probably as much as you do (and misunderstand what it really means the same way). You’re obviously not stupid, but you seem to think that your readers are, and would buy into such simplistic reasoning.
Comment by alpha_omega — January 25, 2008 @ 7:07 pm