U.S. Life Expectancy is Circling the Drain - Nautilus
nautil.us
We lack political will to deal with it
  • ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    3·
    6 hours ago

    Article blames American’s lack of political will, but not the world’s billionaires for extorting money through Israel or buying our lawmakers.

  • LaBellaLotta [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    8 hours ago

    I often think about the precipitous drop in life expectancy that was experienced by much of the population in post Soviet Russia. We truly deserve this. Even though it fills me with indignant rage when I think of the vampires who created and benefit from these conditions, we really truly deserve this as a nation.

  • Arcanepotato@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
    17·
    12 hours ago

    Woolf adds that our federalist system causes these problems to be exacerbated in certain states, leaving people living in the South, Appalachia, and rural communities at even greater risk of premature death.

    I recently gained a better understanding of how coroners work in the states and the gaps in public health data make a lot more sense.

    Even if you have the desire to improve things, if you lack good data you can’t make good decisions. I’m sure it’s by design 🫠

    • decended_being@midwest.social
      9·
      8 hours ago

      The whole quote they added is worth reading.

      Woolf says there are several proximate causes to consider, like the opioid epidemic, access to firearms, and high-calorie diets. However he stresses that focusing on these issues obscures the larger story of why the United States has been falling behind other developed countries for so long.

      “The pervasiveness of the U.S. health disadvantage and the rise in mortality rates across so many causes of death call for consideration of systemic factors,” he writes. These include our broken healthcare system, a sky high poverty rate, and a lax regulatory environment that invites pollution and allows the sale of dangerous products. Woolf adds that our federalist system causes these problems to be exacerbated in certain states, leaving people living in the South, Appalachia, and rural communities at even greater risk of premature death.

      “We know how to solve this. Other countries that have outperformed the United States for decades have demonstrated that better health outcomes are possible,” Woolf said in a statement. “What we lack in the United States is not solutions but political will.”

      People in the US are dying of preventable diseases, preventable violence, and preventable poverty. The only logical conclusion is that it is done with intention.

      • Arcanepotato@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
        1·
        7 hours ago

        I didn’t see why that would be the goal, but I’d like to hear more if you’d be into elaborating.

        I think the cost of ending this (i.e. restricting what companies can sell, regulating how they treat their employees and the environment, funding health education and healthcare) interferes with infinite growth, and therefore it makes more sense to keep people ignorant of the systemic harms so that they keep thinking they are the freest nation on earth 🫡

  • susieq0044@sh.itjust.works
    619·
    12 hours ago

    Actually, I live in Kansas and it’s HELL! My oldest son died of fentanyl, my second oldest was cycling and got run over by a SUV for gods sake, I have two daughters who fell victim to rampant gunshot wounds and hospital sepsis , my parents drank lead-contaminated bilge water, for crying out loud, where the government when you need them? Luckily enough our health insurance bills are getting lower and lower, so my husband and I finally had a chance to get on a carrabian cruise. I would still vote republican and Trump though.