As you might have guessed, he cited the financial problems of Greece as the reason for his suicide. He was a retired pharmacist so he should have been living a reasonable retirement. The bankers meanwhile continue to prosper, as governments trip over themselves to make sure they don't anger them enough to pack their bags and leave. (As if.) Those who caused the crisis are somehow to valuable to lose, but the others are merely cannon fodder.
Nice environment that the bankers created. From CNBC:
A Greek retiree shot himself dead in the busiest public square in Athens during morning rush hour Wednesday, leaving a note police said linked his suicide with the country's acute financial woes.More from CBS about suicide rates spiking across Europe, with a smaller increase in the US:
Hours later, more than 1,500 anti-austerity protesters gathered in the square, responding to social media calls for peaceful demonstrations accusing Greek politicians of driving people to despair with harsh cutbacks implemented to secure vital international bailouts.
The 77-year-old retired pharmacist drew a handgun and shot himself in the head near a subway exit on central Syntagma Square which was crowded with commuters, police said. The square, opposite Greece's Parliament, is a focal point for public protests.
Before the financial crisis first began, Greece had the lowest suicide rate in Europe at 2.8 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to Eurostat. That has now almost doubled and is rising at an alarming rate. A Greek Ministry of Health study found the suicide rate in the first half of 2011 was 40 percent higher than the year before.
Similar increases are being seen across the hardest hit areas of Europe. Portugal's suicide rate in 2009 was almost double what it was at the start of decade. Ireland saw a 13 percent increase in suicides among people under 65 between 2007 and 2008. Another study in Lancet found the overall increase in suicides across the EU since 2007 corresponded to increases seen during other severe economic downturns.
The U.S. has also seen a significant rise in suicide since the crisis began. In 2000, there were 10.5 suicides per 100,000 people. By 2009 it had increased to 12 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
