Aaron Swartz has committed suicide

[Tasaio]

A tragic loss.

 

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/01/farewell-aaron-swartz

 

http://rememberaaronsw.tumblr.com/post/40372208044/official-statement-from-the-family-and-partner-of-aaron

 

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-tag/2013Jan/0017.html

 

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/philg/2013/01/12/aaron-swartz/

 

http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/prosecutor-as-bully

 

[Volourn]

If he committed suicide, he's a coward., and not as tragic as it would have been if he continued to fight the good fight. So many people die when they want to live and cowards like this just throw in the towel when the going gets tough. Suck it up, and fight back! Espciially consideirng all the stuff he's accomplished. To give up like this is a wussy maneuvre.

[Valsuelm]

If he committed suicide, he's a coward., and not as tragic as it would have been if he continued to fight the good fight. So many people die when they want to live and cowards like this just throw in the towel when the going gets tough. Suck it up, and fight back! Espciially consideirng all the stuff he's accomplished. To give up like this is a wussy maneuvre.

 

Someone who kills themselves is not necessarily a coward. Especially if they used a noose as initial news reports are saying Aaron did. Are some folks who kill themselves cowards? Of course. But being a coward usually has as much to do with suicide as whether or not the guy/gal who did it likes chocolate ice cream or not.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Valsuelm

[BruceVC]

If he committed suicide, he's a coward., and not as tragic as it would have been if he continued to fight the good fight. So many people die when they want to live and cowards like this just throw in the towel when the going gets tough. Suck it up, and fight back! Espciially consideirng all the stuff he's accomplished. To give up like this is a wussy maneuvre.

 

Why is he a coward? He could have been suffering from depression , and depression is a sickness. Committing suicide doesn't necessarily make you a coward.

[Malcador]

Impressive career

[Volourn]

"Why is he a coward? He could have been suffering from depression , and depression is a sickness. Committing suicide doesn't necessarily make you a coward. "

 

Everything is a 'sickness' in the modern age. If it's a sickneess he should have gotten help for it.

[samm]

Has the angry dwarf even read any of the links or seen the video from the initial post? This man Aaron Swartz voiced very, very valid concerns of people vs. companies & government, freedoms for which each and every one will have to fight on their own because there is no lobby on their side, no financial benefit to be gained by supporting them.

 

So this guy who's telling others what they might otherwise have fatally and irrevocably overlooked, gets in the way of government and companies. Or at least these institutions think so. Which is enough to make them want to get rid of him. One individual, put under constant pressure by them - can you really call him a weakling for that? The most ridiculous ways of criminalizing were applied, and I think we all know what even comparatively baseless mobbing by co-workers or -students can do to a person. So how much worse will the effect be if the same tactics are applied in the big scale, by multinationals and the government? 50 years in prison, financial ruin, personal and professional isolation they would afflict upon him for a bad joke of a "reason" should leave him cool?

 

This man surely was no weakling. He folded under pressure that would, in my opinion, have served as a valid reason for more drastic measures than suicide.

 

Being part of the architects of much of what the Internet is now just makes him stand out from a crowd suffering similar fates. There's no value in playing the tough guy regarding his suicide. It just makes anyone doing that a sorry little self-righteous ignorant.

Edited January 13, 2013 by samm

[Volourn]

"Has the angry dwarf even read any of the links or seen the video from the initial post? This man Aaron Swartz voiced very, very valid concerns of people vs. companies & government, freedoms for which each and every one will have to fight on their own because there is no lobby on their side, no financial benefit to be gained by supporting them."

 

I didn't diss his life's work. i dissed his cowardice. Suicide is a coward's way out of tough situation. It's nothing more than my life sucks but instead of doing what i can to make it better, I'll end it. It's not cool, it's not defensible, it's not honourable. I feel sorry for him and pity him but I call a spade a spade. Plenty of people have crappy lives and do their best to fight through it. His act insult all those who die but wanted to live.

 

 

"There's no value in playing the tough guy regarding his suicide. It just makes anyone doing that a sorry little self-righteous ignorant. "

 

Self righteous, maybe. Ignorant, no. You assume I haven't dealt with suicide in the past. I may not know the specifics on why he chose to end his life but I do know giving up on life is not the answer, Humans have a short life span as it is. No reason to make it shorter willingly.

 

I believe in courage and fightingw hen the going gets tough. Not packing it in, and giving up. That's cowardly. And, int his case, it is even sadder, cosndieirng what he has accomplished.

[Valsuelm]

Seriously? Is your imagination so shallow you can't consider other scenarios for suicide than cowardice from a tough situation? The guy was notoriously selfless. The selfish masses cannot comprehend selflessness. People sometimes kill themselves for the sake of others believe it or not. There are all sorts of reasons someone may commit suicide. And yes, in some situations it is even honorable (not saying it was here necessarily). Go read up on seppuku. Use your imagination.

 

This guy was pretty smart. He likely didn't off himself without thinking it through, if that's indeed what he did.

 

Two things:

 

Perhaps he did seek treatment for his imagined 'illness', in which case he's likely been in psychotropics for ages. These drugs #(&^ you up bad mentally in the long run and quite permanently in many cases. They never solve whatever problem it was you had that drove you to take them, they just mask it or delude you into thinking it doesn't exist at best.

 

He reportedly left no note. He very well may have been suicided.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Valsuelm

[Orogun01]

Rather than pitch in and point out why Volourn is wrong I will try to steer this thread back onto its course. Because no matter the circumstances a great mind and entrepreneurial spirit has been lost and that should take precedence over whether or not he was justified on taking his life.

This is just the result of an obscene criminal justice system that protects the rich and prosecutes the poor, and of a lawyer hellbent on making his bones on a criminal case. Lawyers are indeed the Devil's tool when they take action carelessly without regard to the consequences.

[Volourn]

"Go read up on seppuku."

 

There's nothing 'honourable' about seppuku. I feel for this guy because he was probably in a tough spot. But, the concept of seppuku is a sick practice fashioned on the basis of extreme peer pressure that twists the whole concept of what honour actually is.

 

 

On to Orogun. The guy definitely should be celebrated for his accomplishments. And, the trial he face was/is highly suspect as nothing more than 'getting back at him for being a thorn on their side'.

[BruceVC]

Rather than pitch in and point out why Volourn is wrong I will try to steer this thread back onto its course. Because no matter the circumstances a great mind and entrepreneurial spirit has been lost and that should take precedence over whether or not he was justified on taking his life.

This is just the result of an obscene criminal justice system that protects the rich and prosecutes the poor, and of a lawyer hellbent on making his bones on a criminal case. Lawyers are indeed the Devil's tool when they take action carelessly without regard to the consequences.

 

That may be true but I find it insulting to the guys character and his achievements when he is called a coward, considering we have no idea of the circumstances.

 

What makes it worse is that Volo is ignorant and doesn't understand the nature of depression. So its difficult not to comment when faced with such opinions as Volourns

[Valsuelm]

"Go read up on seppuku."

 

There's nothing 'honourable' about seppuku. I feel for this guy because he was probably in a tough spot. But, the concept of seppuku is a sick practice fashioned on the basis of extreme peer pressure that twists the whole concept of what honour actually is.

 

Not even remotely. Feudal Japan was an entirely different culture with values much different than ours in today's western society. In many ways the our culture compared to theirs is fundamentally opposite in terms of values. Honor is very very rare thing in our culture, this was not so among many in Japan, especially the Samurai.

 

While no doubt some folks committed seppuku due to peer pressure, you fundamentally don't understand the practice if you think that's all it was or is.

 

I should have said this earlier, but it's those who label suicide as always the act of a coward, or someone who is suicidal as always just someone looking for attention who are cowards. They are afraid to use their imagination to ever contemplate a moment where they themselves might end their own life or seriously contemplate doing so. They are often blinded by their hubris.

 

Frankly, to me someone who thinks this way fails one of the litmus tests to indicate if a person truly thinks with any depth or not, and really truly has empathy; excusing the young of course as they just may not have had time to think about it yet. Any adult however that thinks this way thinks very shallow. Fear truly is the mindkiller, and the fear of contemplation of many a thing is what keeps the unintelligent unintelligent. In many ways you are as smart as you have the courage to be.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Valsuelm

[WDeranged]

I'm reminded of a poem that my half asleep brain can't quite remember, something about living in a world where the righteous are impotent and evildoers burn with the fire of dedication, sad stuff.

[Meshugger]

I had no idea on who that guy was. R.I.P. and all that, i guess.

 

And i wouldn't compare suicide with seppuku, since the first is a result of depression or a mental disorder while the other is product of a warrior's code of conduct.

[AGX-17]

If he committed suicide, he's a coward., and not as tragic as it would have been if he continued to fight the good fight. So many people die when they want to live and cowards like this just throw in the towel when the going gets tough. Suck it up, and fight back! Espciially consideirng all the stuff he's accomplished. To give up like this is a wussy maneuvre.

 

As someone who's been diagnosed with and suffered from depression since puberty, all I can say is that you're an ignorant idiot. You started with the ad hominem attacks out of ignorance and generally being an ***hole, so I feel quite justified responding in kind.

 

Mental illness is just that: mental illness. It's a psychological disorder whose sufferers have no control over. It's not a matter of "oh I had some setback in life and now I'm going to kill myself," it's a matter of emotions which won't stop plaguing you even when you succeed and thoughts which force themselves into your consciousness whether you want them to or not.

 

Thoughts of suicide aren't conscious choice, acts of suicide aren't a rational choice. Essentially, get educated, you ignorant ****. Or join the church of Scientology where they agree with your positions on the sciences of psychology and neurology.

 

Take, for example, Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. As his friend Thomas Jefferson (as in founding father and president of the US,) once wrote about him: "a man of good sense, integrity, bravery and enterprise" but also, "prone at times to sensible depressions of the mind...that seem to persist in the family." With all of Lewis' prestige, powerful connections and legendary accomplishments, his life ended in suicide. If you have any functioning brain cells you should be able to infer from that that depression is a disease, and has even been recognized to be hereditary in nature for centuries. It's not a matter of ordinary people having a hissy-fit, it's a matter of people who are afflicted with a disease of the mind which cannot, so far as modern medicine has found, be cured.

 

It's not cowardice, wussiness or what have you. Would a coward have set out into uncharted territories full of potentially hostile natives, the dangers of nature and so forth? People commit suicide because they are plagued by emotions and thoughts of despair, hopelessness, self-loathing, an irrational belief that the world, their friends and their families would be better off without them, and that death is the only way to end that emotional torment.

Edited January 13, 2013 by AGX-17

[Volourn]

"Frankly, to me someone who thinks this way fails one of the litmus tests to indicate if a person truly thinks with any depth or not, and really truly has empathy; excusing the young of course as they just may not have had time to think about it yet. Any adult however that thinks this way thinks very shallow. Fear truly is the mindkiller, and the fear of contemplation of many a thing is what keeps the unintelligent unintelligent. In many ways you are as smart as you have the courage to be"

 

So, if you aren't pro suicide you are shallow, unimaginative, unintelligent, cowardly, and fearful? L0L Sounds like youa re the one with the shallowness and lack of depth when it comes to thinking. Youa dmire people for the wrong things. Suicide is not soemthing to be admiredor aspire to. I think people are mixing up suicide with sacrifice. Two completely different things.

 

"Not even remotely. Feudal Japan was an entirely different culture with values much different than ours in today's western society. In many ways the our culture compared to theirs is fundamentally opposite in terms of values. Honor is very very rare thing in our culture, this was not so among many in Japan, especially the Samurai.

 

While no doubt some folks committed seppuku due to peer pressure, you fundamentally don't understand the practice if you think that's all it was or is."

 

The practice of seppuku is not soemthing to be proud of or admire. Nobody should try to copy such a silly thing. Only weak willed punks follow and still follow such a horribkle practice of self defeatism and lacks imagination.

 

And, the fact that it is 'old as time' is irreleavnt.. humans have a done of things that are gargabge. the fact they are 'tradition' doesn't make it less so.

 

 

Anyways, I feel sorry for the guy, but I espicially feel sorry for his family and friends who lost him needlessly.

 

 

P.S. My anti suicide stance is a 'mental illness' guyz.. don't blame me. I cna't help it.. it's the way I was born.

 

 

P.S.S. You being mean to me.. I give up on life and it's all your fault.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Volourn

[Malcador]

Typical death thread on the internet. Some guy dies, another goes against the grain of sadness and condolence from Internet strangers and rage ensues.

[Volourn]

I also gave him kudos for the good stuff he accomplished in his life.

[Hormalakh]

I do think that Volourn makes an interesting point. If this man continued to fight the good fight there was a chance that he could have changed things for the better. This isn't to take away anything for what he accomplished, but it doesn't mean that there were things that he didn't accomplish.

 

Or is this just a matter of "too soon"?

[Hiro Protagonist]

Who is he? Never heard of him.

[obyknven]

Remove United States District Attorney Carmen Ortiz from office for overreach in the case of Aaron Swartz.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/remove-united-states-district-attorney-carmen-ortiz-office-overreach-case-aaron-swartz/RQNrG1Ck

[Orogun01]

I do think that Volourn makes an interesting point. If this man continued to fight the good fight there was a chance that he could have changed things for the better. This isn't to take away anything for what he accomplished, but it doesn't mean that there were things that he didn't accomplish.

 

Or is this just a matter of "too soon"?

Considering his age I would say it was pretty darn soon.

[Volourn]

I think he emant if it was 'too soon' after his death for someone (me) to be critical of the dead guy in any way. Not that he died 'too young'.

[Orogun01]

Oh...