Why are middle-aged white Americans dying/killing themselves?

[KingOrfeo]

Two Princeton economists, Angus Deaton and Ann Case, have determined that the death rate for middle-aged white Americans has been rising since 1999 -- just as the death rates for all other demographic segments have been falling. What's more:

Analyzing health and mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from other sources, they concluded that rising annual death rates among this group are being driven not by the big killers like heart disease and diabetes but by an epidemic of suicides and afflictions stemming from substance abuse: alcoholic liver disease and overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids.

Economist Paul Krugman considers and dismisses several explanation: It is not the fault of the welfare state encouraging dependency and despair, because this is a uniquely American phenomenon and the American welfare state is meager compared with other industrialized democracies'. It is probably not caused by "rising inequality and the hollowing out of the middle class," because Hispanic Americans are much poorer than whites but have lower mortality.

So what is going on? In a recent interview Mr. Deaton suggested that middle-aged whites have “lost the narrative of their lives.” That is, their economic setbacks have hit hard because they expected better. Or to put it a bit differently, we’re looking at people who were raised to believe in the American Dream, and are coping badly with its failure to come true.

That sounds like a plausible hypothesis to me, but the truth is that we don’t really know why despair appears to be spreading across Middle America. But it clearly is, with troubling consequences for our society as a whole.

In particular, I know I’m not the only observer who sees a link between the despair reflected in those mortality numbers and the volatility of right-wing politics. Some people who feel left behind by the American story turn self-destructive; others turn on the elites they feel have betrayed them. No, deporting immigrants and wearing baseball caps bearing slogans won’t solve their problems, but neither will cutting taxes on capital gains. So you can understand why some voters have rallied around politicians who at least seem to feel their pain.

At this point you probably expect me to offer a solution. But while universal health care, higher minimum wages, aid to education, and so on would do a lot to help Americans in trouble, I’m not sure whether they’re enough to cure existential despair.

So, what is at the root of this "existential despair," that afflicts middle-aged whites more than others? And what can be done about it?

 

[JackLuis]

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So, what is at the root of this "existential despair," that afflicts middle-aged whites more than others? And what can be done about it?

I can name several reasons for this phenomena:

Regan- Latin American Atrocities

Bush 1-

Clinton- NAFTA

Bush 2- Iraqi War and cratering the economic system, the rise of the Surveillance State

And the Clown Car of Republican Candidates.

I'd be very depressed too, if I hadn't discovered the joy of the Ukulele.

 

[KingOrfeo]

I can name several reasons for this phenomena:

Regan- Latin American Atrocities

Why would that depress middle-aged white Americans?

 

[Wrong Element]

So what is going on? In a recent interview Mr. Deaton suggested that middle-aged whites have “lost the narrative of their lives.” That is, their economic setbacks have hit hard because they expected better. Or to put it a bit differently, we’re looking at people who were raised to believe in the American Dream, and are coping badly with its failure to come true.


The problem with this theory is that I'm in this age group currently, which means I grew up in the 1970s, a strong contender for the most pessimistic decade in American history. In other words, we never expected a whole helluva lot to go right.

 

[PoppingTom]

Economist Paul Krugman considers and dismisses several explanation: It is not the fault of the welfare state encouraging dependency and despair, because this is a uniquely American phenomenon and the American welfare state is meager compared with other industrialized democracies'. It is probably not caused by "rising inequality and the hollowing out of the middle class," because Hispanic Americans are much poorer than whites but have lower mortality.



So, what is at the root of this "existential despair," that afflicts middle-aged whites more than others? And what can be done about it?

For me, that's the question: how can you become happy in your life?

For a poor hispanic, this is easy, as there is always a way up.

For anybody going - or falling - down, it's nearly impossible in a society with a highly developed hate against "losers", contempt of any security aspects and fights against a general solidarity. Plus that pride for a lot of people that hinders to even think about changing anything.


I have high respects for any American living at this conditions in his country. I remeber from my time in GDR that depression can be something you repress without knowing it.

 

[PoppingTom]

In other words, we never expected a whole helluva lot to go right.

But then, you're not suicidal. Are you?

 

[BotanyBoy]

It's white guys....why should anyone give a fuck?

 

[PoppingTom]

It's white guys....why should anyone give a fuck?

Is there anything beside dope and your gun you're care about?

 

[JackLuis]

Why would that depress middle-aged white Americans?

For me the thought of Regan's paranoia and the USA's oppression of the central Americans with his Nazi like methods. Not to mention the Irangate clusterfuckery.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Is there anything beside dope and your gun you're care about?

Well yea but why should rich white folks problems be on that list?

They are the fucking enemy are they not???

 

[KingOrfeo]

Well yea but why should rich white folks problems be on that list?

They are the fucking enemy are they not???

Actually, this appears to be a problem of the white working class specifically.

The death rate for middle-aged whites with only a high school education or less increased by 134 per 100,000 between 1999 and 2013. Those with a bachelor's degree or more education saw death rates fall by 57 per 100,000 in that time period. These rates were similar among both men and women, the researchers noted.

Therefore, the explanation might be the decline of opportunity in sectors they traditionally work in -- industrial manufacturing, family farming, and small business.

See this GB thread from last year.

 

[PoppingTom]

Well yea but why should rich white folks problems be on that list?

They are the fucking enemy are they not???

Even if you and I think they have to change their mind - I wouldn't call them enemies. But then, they're not a threat to my life.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Actually, this appears to be a problem of the white working class specifically.

Still white folks who have it better than minorities....

Back to why should anyone give a fuck they can't handle not being rock stars like mommy told them they would be??

Therefore, the explanation might be the decline of opportunity in sectors they traditionally work in -- industrial manufacturing, family farming, and small business.

See this GB thread from last year.

Those sectors are all ones the left fucking HATES WITH SEARING PASSION......this is a good thing!!

This is a liburhul concern troll isn't it? LOL good one guys.

 

[PoppingTom]

Those sectors are all ones the left fucking HATES WITH SEARING PASSION......this is a good thing!!

I don't have to understand this.

 

[Wrong Element]

But then, you're not suicidal. Are you?

Only when it's Sunday and my team is on TV.


My point is that as far as "belief in the American Dream" goes, we never much had it to begin with. We grew up with the sense that we missed out on all the fun. Hell, AIDS hit just as I was starting college.

 

[Sean Renaud]

It's white guys....why should anyone give a fuck?

Because they are people. And our people at that.

Well yea but why should rich white folks problems be on that list?

They are the fucking enemy are they not???

Nope, this is specifically middle class white people. If it was rich white people MAYBE we wouldn't care. MAYBE, but it's not. These are the core of our goddamn team! This is like being on the Kings and not caring that Wayne Gretsky got hurt! This is like being on the Lakers and not caring that Kobe and Shaq aren't buddies! This is like being on the. . .Dodgers and finding out Hideo Nomo's family was squashed by Godzilla! (Is it obvious that whatever shits I did once give about sports died in the mid 90's yet?)

Still white folks who have it better than minorities....

Back to why should anyone give a fuck they can't handle not being rock stars like mommy told them they would be??



Those sectors are all ones the left fucking HATES WITH SEARING PASSION......this is a good thing!!

This is a liburhul concern troll isn't it? LOL good one guys.

Nobody on the left hates any sectors save POSSIBLY coal and oil. The reality being we're far to kind on those in the name of jobs anyway. The fact that they have it better (fact) does not make it any less concerning that they are dying. If for no othe reason than we might be next.

I have only glossed the various reports on this story, what do the numbers look like across races in absolute numbers. Cus I know blacks at least used to generally die a few years younger than whites but I have no idea for hispanics and asians. So is it possible that this is a meet at the middle sort of thing?

 

[BotanyBoy]

Even if you and I think they have to change their mind - I wouldn't call them enemies. But then, they're not a threat to my life.

I don't think they have to change their mind.

They are a social/economic/political threat to minorities...

I don't have to understand this.

No you don't....

 

[KingOrfeo]

Those sectors are all ones the left fucking HATES WITH SEARING PASSION......

The left hates industrial manufacturing, family farming and small business? What do you base that on? Maybe big-bizcons and neoliberal globalizers are contemptuous of those sectors, but those are both very different things from the left.

See Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era, by Michael Kimmel. Kimmel's thesis is that AWM have bad reasons to be angry (a sense of "aggrieved entitlement") and good reasons to be angry (economic marginalization/dispossession), but in either case their anger is misdirected -- they are "sending their mail to the wrong address"; whoever or whatever is to blame for their troubles, it is not minorities or immigrants or feminists or liberals or biggummint.

 

[The_Trouvere]

Economist Paul Krugman considers and dismisses several explanation: It is not the fault of the welfare state encouraging dependency and despair, because this is a uniquely American phenomenon and the American welfare state is meager compared with other industrialized democracies'. It is probably not caused by "rising inequality and the hollowing out of the middle class," because Hispanic Americans are much poorer than whites but have lower mortality.

So, what is at the root of this "existential despair," that afflicts middle-aged whites more than others? And what can be done about it?

Blue collar incomes have been fairly flat since the recession of 1974. Whites are probably more prone to blame themselves for economic problems than are blacks and Hispanics.

I am surprised that there has not been an increase in the death rate of white college graduates. A middle aged professional in a specialized and crowded field who loses his job will probably need to take a job that pays less, perhaps much less.

In a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Sen Jeff Sessions pointed out that incomes in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) have been flat since 2000.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-h1-...em-graduates-letters-to-the-editor-1430507004

 

[PoppingTom]

Only when it's Sunday and my team is on TV.


My point is that as far as "belief in the American Dream" goes, we never much had it to begin with. We grew up with the sense that we missed out on all the fun. Hell, AIDS hit just as I was starting college.

The American Dream is not only about what you get, but what the world has to offer you. If you realize at younger age that the world isn't perfect and there is more the world has to offer but that blueprint of your home's past, you're healthy.

It's different, if you really believe there is nothing better like it's at where you live, but that place is in decay.

 

[PoppingTom]

I don't think they have to change their mind.

Then why are you here?

 

[Sean Renaud]

I don't think they have to change their mind.

They are a social/economic/political threat to minorities...

Middle class whites are a threat? Not by any reasonable stretch of the imagination. If we're talking about taking jobs then blacks vs Hispanics are each others largest threats as are new low skill immigrants. Now no matter what our criminals may do politically Hispanics and blacks are aligned. If eliminating threats was a cause blacks would go Republican. . .well if they were single issue voters at any rate.

Socially I don't see how they are a threat at all.

Politically I think your vastly underestimating how basic math functions.Whites still make up a majority of liberals. . .and basically everything other than NBA super stars and rappers.

What were they making in 2k though Trouv? That's important because while you focuse on incomes being flat (a good thing to focus on) the fact remains that for the overwhelming majority of people there is an amount of money that is 'enough'. It varies from person to person and does account for more than just mnoey but that's the easiest thing to quantify.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Because they are people. And our people at that.

Considering the scope of things I don't really see the problem...

Nope, this is specifically middle class white people. If it was rich white people MAYBE we wouldn't care. MAYBE, but it's not.

But I thought it was because they were people? LOL

Middle class white guys are by far the least liked people on/by the left. They are nothing but a bunch of no good oppressive racist shit stains.

Any other day of the week the left wouldn't piss on that dumb redneck joe the plumber to put out a fire. Now all of a sudden concern troll from the left when some of them off themselves because they didn't get to be an astronaut even tho mommy promised? LOL whatever.

Nobody on the left hates any sectors save POSSIBLY coal and oil.

http://media.giphy.com/media/12Tt4U7hlXXaRa/giphy.gif

Then why are they such hostile over the top control freaks seemingly doing everything they can to strangle them into China's hands???

The reality being we're far to kind on those in the name of jobs anyway. The fact that they have it better (fact) does not make it any less concerning that they are dying. If for no othe reason than we might be next.

I have only glossed the various reports on this story, what do the numbers look like across races in absolute numbers. Cus I know blacks at least used to generally die a few years younger than whites but I have no idea for hispanics and asians. So is it possible that this is a meet at the middle sort of thing?

IDK, I didn't read the whole thing either...I find it amusing this is even a topic, much less one discussed by this group of people.

It reeks of concern troll.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Middle class white guys are by far the least liked people on/by the left.

No, that would be the 1%. Remember who OWS targeted -- and OWS had a lot of middle-class whites in it. (The 1% is, of course, almost entirely white, but the protest was focused on class, not race.)

 

[KingOrfeo]

It reeks of concern troll.

Rising rates of death from suicide and drug abuse among the middle-aged white working class do not please me. This is symptomatic of something seriously wrong with this society, and anything that seriously wrong is bad for all classes and races and generations.