Life Expectancy Declining — Apologism and Rationalizations Do Not Solve Problems!
During my morning reading, I came across a slightly alarming statistic.
It was a graphic chart showing life expectancy in major Western Nations. The thing that was alarming about it, was that it showed that in 1980 the US had a life expectancy that was approximately in line with most major Western civilizations.
50 years later, the US had the lowest life expectancy of these nations, and what was more alarming was the fact that over the past four or five years that life expectancy has actually been declining.
Now, it's easy to say "yeah, but Covid and blah, blah, blah..." and use that to shove away what the graphic suggested to be true. But let's not forget that all these nations had Covid to deal with.
I believe that what the graphic really shows, is that you're looking at a nation where so many people are struggling to get by in life that they quite simply wear themselves out, in a way not dissimilar to how those working the fields 14 hours a day 200 years ago lived shorter lives. Meanwhile, the only people whose life expectancy has gone up are those in the top few percent of the socio-economic spectrum, where they can afford all the goods and services that help increase your lifespan.
I shared the statistic with a group of friends, and the reaction was actually interesting — and to some degree predictable — in the sense that most of them got a bit defensive and in some way turned out to be apologists for the statistic.
Only a minority looked at it and came back with the admission that "something is definitely rotten in the US of A, and we should be dealing with that." But they were a minority.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, some even came back and responded to the fact that life expectancy in the US is going down as "liberal propaganda." Which to me just shows that this country which I live in — and I've lived in by choice, for 40 years — has grown into a nation of people who seem inclined to stick their heads in the sand and point fingers, rather than knuckling down and solving problems.
There's also a subtle subtext here, that somehow if we actually own up to and address this massive inequality problem (which is now showing very tangible and possibility life diminishing outcomes) somehow it robs people of the opportunity to sit as "lottery winners" among those top one or five percent, whose life expectancy is actually rising.
It all made me think back to my earliest days after I moved to the US from Europe and one of the earliest societal trends that struck me is that the US is an "All or Nothing" nation.
People often doubt me when I say that, but then I point to simple societal context that perhaps supports what I'm saying.
The first place I noticed it was with sports in the US. Coming from Europe (in 1981) my paradigm was that a sports contest ending in a tie or a draw was a perfectly acceptable result. Then I came to the US and discovered that there was no such thing as a draw here — you have to have a "winner" and a "loser" and people will go to great lengths of overtime and shootouts to determine who won and who lost.
Maybe that seems like a very small thing, but it sort of represents the subtext that drives societal values. We love to have winners and losers in this country. The idea of "everybody doing pretty well" sits very poorly with the mindset of how we view the world, and some even would label it "socialism," regardless of whether or not it were functionally beneficial for a society.
Meanwhile, our system seems to have "evolved" to a place where it is actually causing people to die sooner.
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Created at 2023-10-26 00:05 PDT
0963/2218
The flowers you show are very beautiful, the colors are cool.
Thank you!
Society around the world have taking a wrong path, sport is great example the lengths gone to making it more unfair with less sporting spirit than ever before. Much like stats, honest news reporting, too many bury their heads in the sand like ostriches.
I think we have — through any number of trends I can't fully comprehend — become loath to stand in personal accountability. Our leaders — political, societal, business, diplomatic — are fearful of saying "that didn't work, I made a mistake."
Handful of extremely rich wanting their global rule over all, politicians, society and business all kowtowing to them.
There is no accountability as we once new it.
I know a lot of people who immediately say, "this shows we need socialized medicine," but if the US was on par with other nations 50 years ago with far less intervention, that argument seems less relevant. Additionally, there are more and more clinics experimenting with concierge service, open pricing, in-house pharmacists with minimal markup, and refusal to accept insurance to lower costs for their patients, so it's not like the market process is what costs so much.
There is also a definite culture of the Protestant work ethic taken to toxic extremes. We also bear a lot of artificial costs at every level of economic activity. Our food here is riddled with artificial flavors, dyes, preservatives, sugar, and other additives which are less prevalent in Europe and may (or may not) contribute to the decreased lifespan.
Assuming the data is accurate (I am accepting it as presented) it's very easy to demand simple answers and top-down mandates in response because it feels like doing something. No one wants to ask what the root causes are or whether the proposed response is effective or counterproductive though.
I think much can be traced back to some kind of "switch" that happened in the late 1970's or early 1980's, and it relates directly to your point about "...the Protestant work ethic taken to toxic extremes."
There was this notion that "we can have it ALL!" and with it a subtext that we deserve to have it all. We have predominantly unhealthy relationship with work and how we define success. We typically measure success in terms of "things," and this definition extends as far as to even "commodify" happiness, like it were a "thing" we could acquire when it's actually a state of being."
But we value — as a society — hard work above life contentment, relationships, friendships and such. Not suggesting that's everybody, but enough to represent a majority. I regularly talk to my relatives back in Denmark, and what seems so different isn't whether or not we have similar sense of self-worth, but what elements go into defining what we consider self-worth and success.
The issue is super complex, to be sure. And the answer is not socialized medicine! Perhaps the answer lies in valuing our lives and relationships higher than things and success. No idea how that's going to happen, though...
What a brilliant post!! @denmarkguy
Yes, I had seen this too. I can't help but think over consumerism and mental health are to blame.