I have never seen anything like this. This was not as a result of some religious cult. This has to do with sheer desperation and crop failure. As being reported more than 1,500 farmers in the Indian state of Chattisgarh have committed suicide after being driven to debt by crop failure.
Reports are that because of the marked drop in water levels (currently at 250 feet, just fourty a few years ago), major crop failure has hit this area. Mallika Chopra, in a piece on the Huffington Post puts part of the blame on "nearby forest depletion and poorly planned government dam projects contributed to the falling water level."
Horrifying as all these deaths are, there are the many ways this has also impacted their families beyond the most paramount - the loss of a loved one:
In another village nearby, Beturam Sahu, who owned two acres of land was among those who committed suicide. His crop is yet to be harvested, but his son Lakhnu left to take up a job as a manual labourer.
His family must repay a debt of £400 and the crop this year is poor.
"The crop is so bad this year that we will not even be able to save any seeds," said Lakhnu's friend Santosh. "There were no rains at all."
A spokesperson from the Organic Farming Association of India lays some of the blame on the money lenders:
Farmers' suicides are increasing due to a vicious circle created by money lenders. They lure farmers to take money but when the crops fail, they are left with no option other than death."
So while the teabaggers head back to their homes and bemoan the supposed injustices, a human catastrophe is happening a half a world away. And for those who still hold on to that strand of questionable science that global warming is not causing the type of devastation mentioned above and in places like Australia, can you really turn your back on the human catastrophe that is taking place? Can you not read something like this from a man in Australia and not feel moved:
"Suicide is high. Depression is huge. Families are breaking up. It's devastation," he said, shaking his head. "I've got a neighbor in terrible trouble. Found him in the paddock, sitting in his [truck], crying his eyes out. Grown men -- big, strong grown men. We're holding on by the skin of our teeth. It's desperate times."