Ross Douthat, in a column for the New York Times (5/19, Subscription Publication) wrote, “Over the last decade, the United States has become a less violent country in every way save one. As Americans commit fewer and fewer crimes against other people’s lives and property, they have become more likely to inflict fatal violence on themselves.” Noting that “more Americans now die of suicide than in car accidents, and gun suicides are almost twice as common as gun homicides,” Douthat claimed that “this trend is striking without necessarily being surprising. As the University of Virginia sociologist Brad Wilcox pointed out recently, there’s a strong link between suicide and weakened social ties,” which is “exactly what we’ve seen happen lately among the middle-aged male population, whose suicide rates have climbed the fastest: a retreat from family obligations, from civic and religious participation, and from full-time paying work.”
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— “All the Lonely People, “Ross Douthat, The New York Times, May 18, 2013.