The information in this article is not intended to inspire anyone to take similar action. For you readers who feel symptoms of depression with tendencies in the form of suicidal thoughts, immediately consult your problem with parties who can help such as psychologists, psychiatrists, or mental health clinics.
Facing the birth crisis in Japan and the increasing number of elderly people, a professor at Yale University seems to have come up with a terrible solution, namely suicide. His statement went viral again because currently, the birth crisis in Japan is getting worse.
As quoted by us from the New York Post, Wednesday (15/2/2023) Yusuke Narita is an assistant professor of economics at Yale. As a solution for Japan's aging generation, he once put forward a solution to mass suicide in an interview in 2021.
"I think the only solution is pretty clear. In the end, isn't it mass suicide and mass seppuku of the elderly?" he said.
Seppuku is a popular practice of suicide in 19th century Japan, committed by samurai. The video interview suddenly went viral and Yusuke was criticized by netizens on social media.
Last year, he also touched on a scene in Midsommar where one of the cult members jumps off a cliff. "Whether that's a good thing or not is a difficult question to answer. So if you think it's a good thing, maybe you can work hard to create a society like that," he said at the time.
Not only that, he has also discussed euthanasia, predicting that the possibility of making euthanasia mandatory in the future will become part of public discourse.
In his defense, Yusuke said his comments had been taken out of context. He said he was actually referring to efforts to push parents out of leadership positions in business and politics.
"I should have been more careful about the potential negative connotations," he said, adding that mass suicide and mass seppuku were intended as abstract metaphors.
"After some self-reflection, I stopped using those words last year," added Narita.
In Japan, the professor has garnered a following among young people who believe their economic progress has been hindered by powerful parents. Her Japanese Twitter biography reads: "Things you think you shouldn't say are usually true."
Of course, many criticize it. "It's irresponsible. One might think. Oh, my grandparents are the ones who live the longest and we have to get rid of them," said journalist Masaki Kubota.
Newsweek Japan columnist Masato Fujisaki said Narita supporters probably believed the elderly should just die so they wouldn't be a burden. Some fear that Yusuke's views will gain more traction in a country where the older generation is traditionally respected.