The party elders’ couldn’t believe it. And their lack of courage in getting off their doomed train weighed heavily on some of them.
The constellation of victories by the other party in the weeks before election day were strong indicators of what was to come. By the end of November 8th the exit polls left no doubt on both sides about who was going to be the biggest loser, and the soon-to-be defeated party was in shambles.
For some party true believers, suicide seemed a safe course and some even began extolling the “pleasure of sacrificing personal existence” for the party. After the election results were in, younger party members held baskets from which they passed out cyanide capsules to the party faithful.
Suicide became a national trend, exercised by thousands of distraught people fearing the worst for their country and themseslelves. As in a cult, the mass suicides were in part a response to the shock of seeing a massive, inextricable lie come crashing down.
Note: After the Nazis lost WWII there were thousands of suicides in Germany by officials and citizens fearing retribution or due to a sense of overwhelming loss. Recently, I saw a story about history that’s not widely known and that was the inspiration for the story above.