I remember "hearing" recently that it's because our society conditions (most certain types) men to feel entitled to access and success; tie their self-worth and value as a human to their level of success; and to deem it a personal failure when they don't.

These things together end up making for a personal despair that more often results in suicide.

That's why the white make suicide rate I'm the US is so proportionately high.

It's not. It's also true in countries without high gun ownership.

There is no such thing as late stage capitalism. Or I should say, it's a misnomer. When people refer to late stage capitalism, they are usually complaining about market failures due to globalism, governmental issues, difficulties adapting to automation, or extreme envy of those who have gotten rich. Free markets generally work well for everyone, except for rare circumstances like monopolies or unfair competition.

> Most versions of Zen are made-up export products designed to flatter Westerners. Kind of like the samurai movie honor bushido stuff.

I don't think so. If you go to a zenkai or a sesshin held by a western zendo, and then go to one at a Japanese temple, you won't notice too many differences, apart from the language. Many American zen teachers trained in Japan at some point, or their teachers did, and they brought these practices back more or less verbatim. In fact, in many American zendos, students chant the same sutras, _in Japanese_, as in Japanese zendos. Plus, there are regulatory bodies, like the Soto Zen school, that certify affiliated western zendos as authoritative. It's not made-up, it's hardly an "export product," and it certainly isn't designed to flatter anyone.

> https://vividness.live/zen-vs-the-u-s-navy

That seems like a rambling, self-published book by a Vajrayana practitioner with an axe to grind against Zen, for some bizarre reason. But there are plenty of real books about the rise of American Zen, or Buddhism in the west, that are well-researched. _Zen in America_ by Helen Tworkov is one.

> Japanese people think Buddhism is a thing you do at funerals.

Not at all. Buddhism, and Zen especially, permeate Japanese culture very deeply. Japanese aesthetics, architecture, landscape design, visual art, calligraphy, the tea ceremony, and the martial arts, have all been strongly influenced by Zen. And it's all over pop culture, too—just think of how pervasive Daruma dolls are—that's Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen. Sure, Buddhism is at funerals, but it's everywhere, else, too.

> If you get into it more seriously, I vaguely understand it's mostly a religion that tells you not to have sex.

Maybe you're thinking of Christianity? Unless you're a monk, attitudes towards sex are fairly liberal in Buddhism. There are bodhisattva precepts that caution against misusing sex, but nowhere does anyone tell you not to have it. In fact, it's largely unconcerned with it, let alone "mostly a religion that tells you not to have" it. Western religions are very concerned with telling you what to do and not do, but Buddhism is concerned with liberation.

>made-up export products designed to flatter Westerners

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upaya

Well, and most Catholics only go to mass once a year. If then.

There is a bit more to it, if you’re interested though.

Most westerners also do a lot more Yoga than typical Indians.