Whose Responsibility?

 I'll start with two axioms.   

The first goes thus: “No man is an island.”  

The second axiom is “Life Na per head.”  

    The first axiom is a popular one that basically means humans need each other. According to this translation, no one has all that he needs to survive. He needs another person's knowledge. He needs tools produced by someone else. He cannot possibly produce everything he wants and therefore needs to trade with another person.   

    But that's just the foundation of the axiom. It is more than that. In fact, there are several levels of how humans are interwoven with one another. Scientists say man is a social creature. He always seeks out others to form relationships. That's probably why we have words such as community, couple, citizens, family, associations, guild. The list goes on.   

    However, of particular interest to me, is another level of this axiom; our responsibility for one another.   

    Let's take a look at some of the words I already mentioned. I'll start with family. A man and a woman create another unique individual. The first formative years of that individual entangles such individual with his/her parents. There's absolutely no way the child is an island. Although a separate individual, the child is part of a single unit. As the child develops further in life and gains independence, being an island is still extremely difficult. This is because of the emotional strings between the parents and the individual, which have become thicker and stronger over the years. As a result, the child feels responsible for the parents. In most societies, the child can be held accountable for the well-being of its parents.   

    Let's take another term. Citizens. I'll discuss this in two parts. The first part is this. A citizen is bound to obey the laws of the nation he belongs to. He thus is responsible or accountable for paying taxes, driving safely, reporting or preventing crime amongst other things. These actions help all citizens. Now the second part. Citizens give power to their leaders. Leaders' power lies with their citizens. It's a circle of responsibility that cannot be escaped. Citizens living in a nation cannot claim to be 'islands' or free from their leaders. Neither can leaders make the same claim because their very position is defined by the people they lead.   

    Now let's return to our first axiom. No man is an island. This could also mean that humans are all responsible for one another.  Our actions or lack thereof, have consequences not only for ourselves but for others too. To bring this point to a focus, there are countless instances of people offering humanitarian aid to others affected by war, natural disasters, famine and disease. 

    There's a seemingly contrasting opinion. Our second axiom says "Life na per head" It's in pidgin english because there's no better way to put it. It simply means an individual is ultimately responsible for his/her actions. The individual is also going to bear the consequences of his/her actions, in one form or another. In other words, you are an island. Life best illustrates it this way: you are born alone, you die alone. The earth doesn't stop spinning.

    I'll be examining this axiom from a single angle. Suicide. Suicide can be a divisive topic. While some people do not want to live, others cannot imagine wanting to take their life. Both parties cannot often effectively communicate why they feel the way they do.

    Suicide is hard to understand. This is because no living thing on earth intentionally terminates its own life permanently. It's unnatural. Unlike 'natural' death or accidental death, it's hard to grasp why a human would want death. 

    Several factors could contribute to suicide but I'm not delving into that here. The issue here is responsibility. From a secular point of view, who is responsible for one's life? The second axiom says you are. Interestingly enough, in some countries, it is against the law to murder yourself. The law in such instances is saying you are NOT responsible for your own life.

    But then, remember how no man is an island? I said earlier, that one could take the meaning as we are responsible for one another.  Suicide, like death resulting from sickness, accidents or old age usually results in a lot of pain for family and friends. This corroborates our first axiom. Taking one's life results in pain for that person's loved ones. Perversely enough, because no man is an island, some commit suicide. Let me explain. Most people are who they are because of the society they find themselves in. This shows in their goals or you could say purpose for living. Inability to attain these might cause some to feel like failures. Ineligible for living. Do you get my point?

    People who can't imagine wanting to end their life would look at this as a flimsy reason. They counter-argue that as long as there's life there's always hope. That if the person spoke out or saw a therapist or something, something could have been done. 

Now, remember,  remember, life na per head.

There's only so much people can do. Ultimately, you cannot make the horse drink water.  No matter how they try to walk in the other person's shoe, they'll never understand exactly why the person is willing to end their life. So we're stuck in a quandary. The action of suicide would affect a person's loved ones. But those love ones cannot transform the person's life into a desirable one. Therefore, the individual goes through a life he/she doesn't want until they end it. 

    Nobody actually wants to die. It's not in our makeup. Suicidal people just want the pain to stop the only way they know how to. 

I once heard it said that no one can live your life for you. This is true. So why then is it selfish to take your own life? It's like burning your money. Sure, you could have given it out to someone who is in dire need of it. But if you burnt it, no one is going to be affected just because you burnt your own money.

No man is an island

Life na per head.

How to reconcile these two axioms when it comes to suicide?

Who is responsible for an individual's life?