[MMM]

AlphaDuck, you are speaking from a very Western perspective, and not with a lot to back it up. You call ingrained cultural foundations "brainwashing" because they don't line up with your logic. You just can't see it from another perspective, which is OK, but you need to acknowledge that.

attitudes about suicide, communication styles, language, individual vs. group, food, these are all a part of culture. You are in no position to call kamikaze pilots who fought with their lives to protect Japan "weak", "brainwashed" or "idiots".

Here are the top 10 countries by suicide rates. Not all such nice places to live:

Suicides per 100,000 people per year
Country Males Females Total Year
Lithuania 70.1 14.0 40.2 2004
Belarus 63.3 10.3 35.1 2003
Russia 61.6 10.7 34.3 2004
South AfricaN/A N/A 30.0 2004
Kazakhstan 51.0 8.9 29.2 2003
Hungary 44.9 12.0 27.7 2003
Guyana 42.5 12.1 27.2 2003
South Korea N/A N/A 26.1 2005
Slovenia 37.9 13.9 25.6 2004
Latvia 42.9 8.5 24.3 2004