lol...that's exactly what I thought to myself. I'm on the lower end of that demographic but sometimes when I get home from work, especially on my swim days, I feel like I want to die.
Stress is definitely an under accounted for killer.
Working like a dog all day to pay taxes and support your wife and family,and then hearing from all corners of society that you are the bad guy has got to take its toll on a lot of guys.
The source: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078.abstract
From the abstract:
"...This increase for whites was largely accounted for by increasing death rates from drug and alcohol poisonings, suicide, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. Although all education groups saw increases in mortality from suicide and poisonings, and an overall increase in external cause mortality, those with less education saw the most marked increases..."
Source: PNAS.org Anne Case and Angus Deaton, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Department of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Looks to me like poor lifestyle choices are responsible for the increase in mortality primarily due to chronic drug and alcohol abuse. An interesting question to answer would be what incentive do non-Hispanic whites in their peak earning years have to engage in this behavior that's apparently absent in peer cohorts. Drugs and alcohol are expensive so perhaps the higher price discourages chronic use by other groups? No matter the reason this study points toward this being self-inflicted. Liberty includes the freedom to harm oneself so perhaps non-Hispanic whites are more free in the US versus other nations? Or is overindulgence on chemical escapism a rebellious reaction to the wildly successful (*sarcasm) prohibition on drugs? This is a thought-provoking topic worthy of an economics blog.
Well, that's what work will do to ya.
ReplyDeletelol...that's exactly what I thought to myself. I'm on the lower end of that demographic but sometimes when I get home from work, especially on my swim days, I feel like I want to die.
DeleteStress is definitely an under accounted for killer.
Working like a dog all day to pay taxes and support your wife and family,and then hearing from all corners of society that you are the bad guy has got to take its toll on a lot of guys.
ReplyDeleteThe source: http://www.pnas.org/content/112/49/15078.abstract
ReplyDeleteFrom the abstract:
"...This increase for whites was largely accounted for by increasing death rates from drug and alcohol poisonings, suicide, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. Although all education groups saw increases in mortality from suicide and poisonings, and an overall increase in external cause mortality, those with less education saw the most marked increases..."
Source: PNAS.org Anne Case and Angus Deaton, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Department of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
Looks to me like poor lifestyle choices are responsible for the increase in mortality primarily due to chronic drug and alcohol abuse. An interesting question to answer would be what incentive do non-Hispanic whites in their peak earning years have to engage in this behavior that's apparently absent in peer cohorts. Drugs and alcohol are expensive so perhaps the higher price discourages chronic use by other groups? No matter the reason this study points toward this being self-inflicted. Liberty includes the freedom to harm oneself so perhaps non-Hispanic whites are more free in the US versus other nations? Or is overindulgence on chemical escapism a rebellious reaction to the wildly successful (*sarcasm) prohibition on drugs? This is a thought-provoking topic worthy of an economics blog.