well, that was nerdy. but touching as well.

I didn't know anyone else had actually seen Cabin in the Woods. :-)

http://pandawhale.com/post/5956/the-cabin-in-the-woods-official-trailer-hd-2012-youtube

Joss!

Admittedly, I just saw it the other night, so actually got it. Interesting metaphor.  

Thanks for talking about this. After watching the trailer...

...I want to watch this too!

Actually, when I read this...

“The Organization” that carries out this sacrifice is a high-tech governmental group whose technical rationality is supplemented by occult religious practice and perverse sexual behaviour. It is further revealed that elite ritual sacrifice has been a part of human civilization since time immemorial, conducted in order to appease ancient, evil gods which sleep beneath the surface of the earth.

The film concludes with a personal appeal by the director of this secret organization, played by Sigourney Weaver, to the two young people who have managed to survive the monster attack. She presents them with an ethical dilemma. The director tells them if one of them dies, the apocalypse will be prevented. If they refuse to sacrifice themselves, not only will they die, but every living person on earth will die, screaming, with them.

...it reminded me of The Grand Inquisitor parable in The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky.

"Rebellion? I am sorry you call it that," said Ivan earnestly. "One can hardly live in rebellion, and I want to live. Tell me yourself, I challenge your answer. Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature—that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance—and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth."

"No, I wouldn't consent," said Alyosha softly.

Source: http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/dostoevsky.html

The key question is Why is suffering allowed to exist?

The only answer I can think of is that people allow it to be so.

If we want to end suffering, we have to make it so.

Btw, I never realized this:

Suicides among military veterans, for example, have risen to epidemic levels. Veterans comprise less than 1% of the population but account for more that 20% of all suicides. More soldiers now are dying because of suicide than in combat, something entirely novel in the history of warfare.

Tragic.

yes, it is horrible.

This is entirely novel in the history of warfare.

What is it about now that is leading to so many more suicides?

And what, if anything, can America do about this?

Less fear of hell?

Less support for mental illness? Less compassion in general, and victim blaming... We now consider the poor guilty rather than unfortunate http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20431729 and mentally ill weak and indulgent.

America could 

a) avoid war

b) reduce availability of guns, esp to mentally ill

c) better healthcare for all, especially military

d) more kindness, compassion for those less fortunate than us. 

e) ALL OF THE ABOVE!

You're right, it's time for society to get out of blame mode and into solution mode.