thanks for this thought provoking essay. death does loom large existentially in a universal way [IMO], but the overall impact of this on a person's orientation to life is greatly modified by cultural, biographical and [maybe] dispositional factors. i certainly agree that capitalism is necrophilliac in a variety of ways and well able to induce life-negation and its accompanying behaviours. the question is: how to affirm life in the face of its tragic character. that we have fallen so far into capitalism's sticky web testifies to that tragic character. if we can affirm life, we are certain to want a life-affirmative culture for our descendents so there are practical tasks flowing out of this line of enquiry.