The Richard Corey Syndrome

Independent Individualist ^ | Jan 07, 2009 | Reginald Firehammer

[Hank Kerchief]

The Richard Corey Syndrome

Do you know what these men have in common?

First there was Kirk Stephenson, a happily married man, with a loving wife and an eight-year-old son, whom he kissed goodbye after they had breakfast together before throwing himself in the path of a 100mph express train.

Then there was Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet who was found collapsed at his desk, having anesthetized himself with sleeping pills and slashed his wrists with a box cutter.

There was also Steven L. Good who shot himself while sitting in his Jaguar.

And there was Adolf Merckle, who also killed himself by throwing himself in front of a train, only a short distance from his home.

If you think the thing they have in common I'm referring to is suicide, you are wrong. Lot's of people have committed suicide. The thing they all have in common is the one thing most people would love to share—they were all filthy rich.

I very seldom use the expression "filthy rich" because I know what the source of honest wealth is, and admire all those who, through their own industry and effort, have produced great fortunes. Even for those who amass fortunes in less noble ways, it is not the wealth that is, "filthy," because all wealth has to be produced, and someone has to produce it. The filthy rich are filthy because they did not produce the wealth, they "acquired" it some other way. They did not earn it.

Wealth that is not earned is destructive to those who have it. However their money makes them appear to the world, they are hollow men, controlled by the very wealth they have amassed and depend on for both their self-esteem and prestige.

Those who have earned their wealth are not defeated by the loss of it through some circumstances or unpredicted disasters. Their self-esteem is based on what they know they are, not what they have or what others think of them. They know if they loose money, they can make it again.

When the filthy rich loose money, they loose everything, because that is all they have. There is nothing about them of substance, no strength of character, no principles, no meaning to their lives but whatever their money will buy them, and all it can buy are things, and the admiration of those who do not understand it is not wealth or what it can buy that makes a man, but character, and virtue, and a depth of understanding that used to be called wisdom.

When adversity comes to the filthy rich, and all other phonies of the same ilk, they do what Richard Corey did, and by their actions reveal to the world what they really are. Who was Richard Corey? Let Edwin Arlington Robinson tell us:

Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich?yes, richer than a king?
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

[Hank Kerchief]

PHILOSOPHY PING

(If you want on or off this list please freepmail me.)

Hank

[Tax-chick]

The author’s consistent use of “loose” instead of “lose” detracts from the impression he would like to make as a deep thinker.

That said, I’ve always liked “Richard Cory.”

[elcid1970]

He misspelled “Cory”, too, with the poem right in front of him.

However, neither this author nor the poet explain why individual rich men commit suicide. Were all those he named holders of wealth not personally earned?

And `Richard Cory’ blows himself away for no apparent reason. Is this a form of class based Schadenfreude on the poet’s part?

[Hank Kerchief]

Yes it is too bad, though spelling is not necessarily indicative of depth of thought. The original has been corrected, and I’d repost it if that were possible on FR.

Hank

[CholeraJoe]

Harry got up
Dressed all in black
Went down to the station
And he never came back
They found his clothing
Scattered somewhere down the track
And he won't be down on Wall Street
in the morning

New York Minute The Eagles

[MeanWestTexan]

Uniform spelling is a modern affectation.

In the not-too-distant past, there wyre innumerouse alternative spellings.

[MeanWestTexan]

Through early morning fog I see

visions of the things to be

the pains that are withheld for me

I realize and I can see...

[REFRAIN]:

that suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

and I can take or leave it if I please.

I try to find a way to make

all our little joys relate

without that ever-present hate

but now I know that it’s too late, and...

[REFRAIN]

The game of life is hard to play

I’m gonna lose it anyway

The losing card I’ll someday lay

so this is all I have to say.

[REFRAIN]

[Kenny Bunk]

"Suicide is Painless"

The Theme song of MASH

[Knute]

The dentist from Hamtramack, Mich, “The Painless Pole” was brought back to his “will to live” by a rather unorthodox mercy killing!

[Laur]

Richard Cory doesn’t illustrate your point, though. We don’t know that RC was “filthy” (your definition) rich. We just know that he possessed what those looking at him wished that THEY possessed.

That he killed himself certainly tells us that appearances are deceiving. But we have no clue as to the reason(s) for his unhappiness. And nowhere in the poem is there a suggestion that he lost his money and then had nothing else to live for.

[MeanWestTexan]

Indeed. Written by the director’s son, who made more money from the rights of the song than the director did the movie.

[MeanWestTexan]

On the meme, I know of many self-made men who committed suicide when they had major financial set backs.

Witness the German tycoon Adolf Merckle, who, while he inherited a modest amount, built it up to multi-billionaire status -— until the recent financial collapse.

[Tax-chick]

True ... one of my favorite examples is the Lewis and Clark expedition journals, where they seemed to be competing over how many different ways they could spell the same words.

[Tax-chick]

I figured Richard Cory killed himself because nobody loved him for his personality, just his money, and his parents expected him to be perfect ;-).

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[GOPJ]

When the filthy rich loose money, they loose everything, because that is all they have. There is nothing about them of substance, no strength of character, no principles, no meaning to their lives but whatever their money will buy them, and all it can buy are things, and the admiration of those who do not understand it is not wealth or what it can buy that makes a man, but character, and virtue, and a depth of understanding that used to be called wisdom.

BINGO - great read. Thanks for the ping Hank.