
‘I’m gonna lose everything’ - onetimemanytime
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/11/09/im-gonna-lose-everything/
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bdcravens
At first glance, this appears to be a story about the plight of the American
farmer. It really isn't. The farmer in this story didn't start farming until
2014, taking over the operation from his father in 2016. When the farmer took
his life, he had $300k in debt, but at 35, financial restoration wasn't out of
reach.

There was a lot of debt and financial problems, but digging deeper, this is
really a story about depression and mental health. A common theme throughout
is advice from family and friends to pray more and put more faith in God. In
the end, it wasn't enough. In my experiences in church, there's an utter
disdain for the ideas of mental health being a real, and treatable, concern.

Even beyond the suicide, there's the continued theme. His widow makes less
than $20k in a part-time job and no money doing Mary Kay or the like (they
don't name the MLM), yet it's hinted that she doesn't know how she and the
three kids will make it, but they are holding strong to their faith.

I never want to knock anyone's spiritual beliefs, as I feel they can provide a
source of strength in times of darkness. But this article talks about some
very practical issues, and it feels like these traditional Midwest values are
very much a stumbling block for solving those issues.

~~~
solotronics
So their traditional family values are at fault? I think in the US the
economic system has changed and left a growing number of people behind. The
rate of change is increasing and there is no real plan for how people are
supposed to make enough income to support the average American family. We will
probably see massive unrest during our lifetime if this continues.

~~~
bdcravens
The lack of identifying mental health problems and treating them properly are
at fault. If your answer to depression and hardship is just to pray harder,
that's a problem. Properly equipped, he could have lived to fight another day,
and possibly make the changes needed in his farm's business model to turn the
corner. Or maybe he'd declare bankruptcy, lose the farm, and go get a job
selling cars or something.

