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Tuesday, October 07, 2008

I hope we don't start seeing more of this
Posted by Jill | 6:31 AM
I react more strongly to stories like this than some people do, because of my first-hand experience in dealing with the aftermath of a murder by a man with financial problems. When John List killed his family in 1971, it was an unusual story. When a Bergen County man killed his two sons and himself in 2006, it was still unusual. I fear that as the American economy collapses, stories like this will become more prevalent:
An unemployed man with an advanced finance degree who was despondent over his own financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday.

Officers found the bodies Monday morning after the wife failed to show up at a neighbor's home to go to work, Deputy Chief Michel Moore said. The deaths occurred sometime after Saturday evening.

A handgun that had been bought Sept. 16 was found in the father's grasp, Moore said. Karthik Rajaram, 45, left two suicide notes — one for police and one for friends and relatives — and a will.

The notes attest to Rajaram's financial difficulties, and he takes responsibility for killing his family members, Moore said.

Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.

The gunman's 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping, Moore said.

In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his 7-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed. Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter said the victims were shot multiple times.

Rajaram had a master's of business administration in finance, formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said.

Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.


We've built an entire society around consumerism. We've encouraged people to go into debt to buy more house than they need, more house than they can afford. Motor vehicle companies created leases so that people could drive more luxurious cars than they could afford otherwise. Suddenly everyone was entitled to the trappings of wealth -- the mansion and the luxury car and the 5-star Caribbean vacation every year. And now the rug has been pulled out from under us, and these people are left with nothing but debt and dashed dreams, in a country where the acquisition of STUFF is the only value.

What does it say about us that the thought of living with less is enough to make people suicidal?

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4 Comments:
Blogger Beverly said...
Sad to say but I believe this is only one of many stories we'll hear in the near future. In my area there are people learning that the house they bought 3 years ago is not worth half of what they bought it for and I see more FOR SALE signs in newly bought cars. When I lost my very well paying job a few months ago I ended up with one where I work harder for less but I've also learned to live with less. And it sounds easy, but for those so far in debt they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel I could see where depression and suicide come in.
10/7/08, 10:34 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Surely the point that your missing here is that this selfish, cowardly man chose to take the lives of 5 people who- you never know- may have the strength of character to live fulfilled lives without the fruits of casino capitalism and, indeed, their megalomaniac of a paterfamilias. Any one else noticed that it is invariably the man that makes this abhorrent choice?
10/7/08, 11:11 AM  
Blogger Bob said...
Suicide is understandable; collapse of lifestyle, confidence, sense of self worth & self respect, unable to provide. It's the outward murderous rage that disturbs us, holding their families responsible for business failures, as if without their families they wouldn't have bought into the ambition & lifestyle, saved all their money or adopted a Thoreau existence. What sets List apart is that he didn't commit suicide. He was a cold psychopath.
10/7/08, 12:51 PM  
Blogger Rhode Island Rules said...
Sadly there will be more, many more. Anyone under the age of 40 has never known anything but a go-go economy. They are the generation who could do anything at work, call in sick whenever they wanted to do something else and provide no customer service at all and still keep their job.

I have seen this economy before. I was newly married when the oil embargo of 1981 hit. Odd/even license plate gas days, lining up for gas on lunch breaks, keeping your house heat at 60 degrees, doing your job because if you didn't there were 30 people out there waiting to take it from you. Selling gold and silver at high rates to pay for brakes on the car or our rent.
I have come full circle. Growing up fairly poor and starting out married life that way I know how to sacrifice. I have also tasted the pretty good life later in my marriage, although nowhere near the Lehman/Goldman folks. Since my divorce 5 years ago I have been pedaling furiously backward and it's okay. Stuff doesn't define me, things aren't who I am and that is one of the reasons we divorced. He was all about that.
It is not pleasant at age 50 to be back where I was at age 20 figuring out how to pay for brakes on the car. But I will survive.

The folks that came out of college directly into 6 figure incomes and perks are going to have a very rough time and a lot of them will not be able to handle it. Their sense of entitlement will not allow them to accept lesser positions and less pay. They won't be able to figure out how to live with less. And they will give up.
10/7/08, 8:56 PM  
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