StatCounter

Friday, November 30, 2018

US Life Expectancy Down



According to the CDC, the life expectancy in the United States is going down. That's not supposed to happen in advanced industrialized countries. What's truly disturbing is that drug overdoses and suicide are major factors.

It's a sign that our society is not a happy nor a healthy one. People who's lives have meaning do not kill themselves, nor seek escape in drugs. There's a classic experiment. Rats were given the opportunity to self administer drugs. Soon they were using drugs to the exclusion of everything else until they died. That study was held up to demonstrate the powerful attraction of drugs.

However, there was a recent study similar to the first, but with a critical difference. The rats were put in an environment that was stimulating and interesting. These rats did not drug themselves to death. Turns out rats only drudged themselves to death when stuck in a boring cage with nothing to do.

My theory is that our society has become a boring cage for too many people. Let's face it, vast numbers of people don't have anything interesting to do. They have crappy jobs that don't mean anything. David Graeber has written a new book called Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. He points out that many people are working needless jobs -and they know it. People have a need to be valuable and useful.

We have a society that just doesn't work for a large percentage of our population. That's not good. People have no hope. That's can't go on forever. We could continue to make a slow swirl down the drain. On the other hand, societies with no direction are vulnerable to charismatic leaders who promise meaning. That's how ISIS gets willing suicide bombers.

Interesting times.

-Sixbears

9 comments:

  1. That's life without the Lord. Of course some will say that I'm being simplistic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not entirely Gorges...loss of a sense of morals which religion used to bring.
      Has in many ways contributed in this decline.
      I might add that unregulated greed by a few at the top, hasn't helped either.
      You cannot Make America great again by being a self serving fat cat. Our fearless leader would do well to lead by example and bring his own factories back to the USA.

      Delete
    2. Having deep spiritual roots makes a huge difference in a person's life -that is, if they actually live the moral life they were taught.

      Delete
  2. I don't understand the opiod crisis at all. People in this day and age should KNOW that taking illicit drugs to become high will not improve ones life. Have people become that stupid ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If your life has no hope or meaning, a few hours of escape may seem worth it.

      Delete
  3. Too many folks don't want to face reality. Nor do they want to work. Plus those coming back from the front have not been treated the way they should be. Today is the day of selfishness. People want something for nothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can ignore reality, but reality won't ignore you.

      Delete
  4. The "older generation" always looks at the younger generation as being frivolous and self-serving. That is, except for my grandson (grin).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grandkids are wonderful. No doubt about that Dizzy!

      Delete