If the son committed suicide, it was not because of what the accusers said, whether false or true. He must’ve already been at a point where it seemed like a good option. And there is no reason to assume that the accusers had any intention of getting the guy to commit suicide, nor is there any reasonable inference that accusing someone’s dad of sexual harassment would lead to them committing suicide.
So I very much disagree they would have blood on their hands, even if they were lying.
Though I also say that I think it is unlikely the accusations are false. Reason 1 is simply that false accusations are less common than real ones. Second is that Fox fired the man, meaning they didn’t think there was a good chance of exoneration. They would love to be able to have someone who was falsely accused, to take off the stink of other situations.
But, again, even if they were false, it would not mean they had any responsibility for the son’s death. Though I share any anger about it. Not at the son, but that he had to die. Fuck death. And if it was suicide, fuck suicidal depression!
The only blame I might hand out is if he tried to get help and was denied it. Then fuck those people.
If Bolling Jr. committed suicide over the accusations about his father, and the accusations turn out to be false, then Bolling Jr’s blood is on the accusers hands.
Okay.
So, if it turns out the accusations are true, is Bolling, Jr’s blood on his father’s hands?
The answer is, obviously, no. Killing yourself because your parents marriage might be breaking up is not a rational act. Killing yourself because your dad is a creeper is not a rational act. If Bolling Jr. killed himself, he did it because he was mentally ill, not because of anything someone in his life did or did not do.
I’m not sure I totally agree with you on that. If the accusations against Bolling are true, then the people he harassed had every right to come forward. But if the allegations were false, and his accusers were out to ruin or discredit Bolling, that changes things. I don’t think you get to do something false and malicious and then wash your hands of it when the consequences are worse than what you intended.
All of which is highly speculative, of course. We don’t know if the allegations are true or false (and will probably never have proof one way or the other), or if they played any role in the son’s death.
I don’t see it as washing your hands of it. I see it as the actions not reasonably leading to the consequences.
The same logic would mean that it really is your fault if you were a bit cross with someone you loved, and then they committed suicide. But it’s absolutely not. You didn’t perform an action that could reasonably lead to your loved one dying.
I just do not think a functioning moral system can actually require you to factor in unforeseeable consequences before acting. It’s a logical impossibility to prepare for that which you can’t predict.
If they are lying, there are plenty of wrong things happening that they can foresee, and they hold the responsibility for all of them. The guy being fired, strain on his family relationships, hardship on his family, problems finding work, social ostracism, and so on. But his kid committing suicide? That’s just not among them.
I only hold people responsible for the things they intended to do, or the things that they should have been able to predict would happen. And I don’t agree that a son’s suicide is among them.
Plus, well, trying to blame suicide on life circumstances isn’t good anyways. How many people have dad’s accused of sexual harassment who don’t kill themselves? Clearly that is not what causes you to kill yourself. It’s the suicidal depression. Or, in some circumstances, someone trying to get you to kill yourself, or someone fucking up your psychological treatment.
Those are causes. People doing something shitty to your dad is not.
I agree, he must have been at a point where that seemed like the only option. I can’t help but wonder though if all the bs with the dad is what broke the straw which is why I put in the comment about if the allegations aren’t true, there’s blood on some hands. I also agree, since Fox canned him, the allegations were probably true but on the other hand I wonder if Fox is so tired of this shit their attitude is just screw it, we’re just removing people because the accusers keep coming forward as a message/warning to their other employees. Bolling said he’d clear his name, I haven’t seen any news about that, then again, he’s got a hell of a lot on his plate right now.
I get that, as I responded in another post, I just can’t help but wonder if the father’s behavior or the accusations is what set him over the edge. I don’t think this all came to light and he suddenly became mentally ill and took his own life.