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Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

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Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#23
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure seems to me like any time the technocrat/commentariat/coastal crowd point out the various problems with the American South, it's always with this patronizing schadenfreude vibe. "Haha guys look at the poor dumb hicks who don't know what's best for them"

What’s the other explanation? I presume it’s not the enormous amount of asymmetric financial assistance that pours into the south every single year from the “patronizing” coastal elites? The South ties its wagon to the wrong horse year in and year out. No one forces them to do that. Fixating on the patronizing tone is exactly the type of error that gets these outcomes.

QED

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#24
post #9
post #2

I saw all the doom and gloom tweets, but didn't realize most of the cause boils down to policy decisions. Call your elected officials and tell them you don't want to die an avoidable early death.

Sure seems to me like any time the technocrat/commentariat/coastal crowd point out the various problems with the American South, it's always with this patronizing schadenfreude vibe. "Haha guys look at the poor dumb hicks who don't know what's best for them"

Having half my extended family in the rural South, they don't often do much to offset that impression. There are nice ones and mean ones, but none of them really have their lives together and there's obvious stuff they could be doing, like cutting sugar consumption in half (so many diabetics). One of my uncles died of complications from willfully unmanaged diabetes. His foot was literally rotting off one toe at a time, he was in direct pain and he still pounded can after can of Mountain Dew and ignored anyone who tried to advise him otherwise, including his own wife and son. My nicer uncle is half-functional due to neck injuries he sustained in a car crash, but he just pushes through things and doesn't look after his health, and just makes things worse for himself despite his good intentions.

That seems to be the identity of the modern south, various flavors of denial and defiance. Those who defy the stereotype tend to leave, or cluster in/around the better developed urban areas. I've met a lot of awesome people who immigrated from the south, but not many living there outside of a major metro.

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#25
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, what else could be the cause? One way or another, it'll come down to some insane policy decision or other. And this "states vs federal" power struggle in America (not my country) basically guarantees that there will be variance across states. The division of powers made sense in the old days, but in today's day and age it's crazy that there are not more standards set across the board at the federal level. It'…

Even though there's definitely a strong state by state correlation, I thought it was interesting that a number of states (like South Dakota and Wyoming) had such a wide range of outcomes. Not sure of that's just randomness due to smaller population sizes or what

Those are reservations. MT, ND, MN, WI too https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#26
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure seems to me like any time the technocrat/commentariat/coastal crowd point out the various problems with the American South, it's always with this patronizing schadenfreude vibe. "Haha guys look at the poor dumb hicks who don't know what's best for them"

Having half my extended family in the rural South, they don't often do much to offset that impression. There are nice ones and mean ones, but none of them really have their lives together and there's obvious stuff they could be doing, like cutting sugar consumption in half (so many diabetics). One of my uncles died of complications from willfully unmanaged diabetes. His foot was literally rotting off one toe at a tim…

Thank you for illustrating my point. Yeesh.

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#27
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the other explanation? I presume it’s not the enormous amount of asymmetric financial assistance that pours into the south every single year from the “patronizing” coastal elites? The South ties its wagon to the wrong horse year in and year out. No one forces them to do that. Fixating on the patronizing tone is exactly the type of error that gets these outcomes.

QED

Is your claim that the patronizing tone is the source of or a possible solution to the South’s problems?

Or is this a, “because the coasts are patronizing, we don’t need to discuss these issues.”

Seems like the latter to me but I’d be interested to hear if it’s the former.

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#28
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, what else could be the cause? One way or another, it'll come down to some insane policy decision or other. And this "states vs federal" power struggle in America (not my country) basically guarantees that there will be variance across states. The division of powers made sense in the old days, but in today's day and age it's crazy that there are not more standards set across the board at the federal level. It'…

Even though there's definitely a strong state by state correlation, I thought it was interesting that a number of states (like South Dakota and Wyoming) had such a wide range of outcomes. Not sure of that's just randomness due to smaller population sizes or what

[deleted]

Re: Life expectancy in the U.S. varies greatly by region

#29
post #8
post #2

I saw all the doom and gloom tweets, but didn't realize most of the cause boils down to policy decisions. Call your elected officials and tell them you don't want to die an avoidable early death.

I mean, what else could be the cause? One way or another, it'll come down to some insane policy decision or other. And this "states vs federal" power struggle in America (not my country) basically guarantees that there will be variance across states. The division of powers made sense in the old days, but in today's day and age it's crazy that there are not more standards set across the board at the federal level. It'…

The problem with federal standards is getting everyone to agree. If state standards aren’t allowed and California wants tougher environmental standards on California land, but Texas doesn’t, you force a showdown, a loser, and simmering resentment for decades.
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