Poverty takes its toll on life expectancy (Obama's America)

We’re living in two Americas. But unlike 50 years ago, when Michael Harrington’s “The Other America” shone a spotlight on poverty among certain groups within the U.S., today’s “other America” is one of profound differences in the most precious of all commodities – the length of our lives. We’ve known for some time now of the health and longevity disparities between blacks and whites. But, as new findings by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society, recently published in Health Affairs, demonstrate, the story about these longevity gaps has gone through some rather startling changes.

“Guess you never set out on your own; spoon-baby.”

I had a paper route and was paying federal income taxes when I was 8.

Started plastering when I was 14 so I could build a righteous 40 coupe street racer ready on my 16th birthday.

Worked and paid my own way through college.

Never bought anything on payments except my first home.

Never in my life had less than a years earnings in reserve just in case something happened.

No one ever gave me anything asshole!

Our rural county has high poverty and an earlier than average death rate. Some of the poverty here is because we have always been a natural resource-based economy. With the spotted owl, the salmon and other environmental regulations, whole communities have slid into high unemployment and substance abuse.

You just can’t take a 60 year old logger or farmer and stick him in an office or the hospitality industry.

After 20 years of helping to deal with it, I believe it is a direct result of urban idiots who have no concept from where the food they eat, the clothes they wear and the houses they live in come. They would faint looking at the rear end of a cow in a squeeze chute. Rural people are looked upon as inferior throw aways that don’t count - particularly by the California urban legislature.

I can tell you that part of the early death rate is suicide. Many of these are young males from 17-30. But some are older folks. Just last month a seventy year old widowed female veteran in our town shot her little dog and then herself. The reason for suicide here is generally poverty and despair.

May the lord forgive you heartless people who see all poverty as a scam by lazy people against the system. I hope that you and yours never have to walk in their shoes some day.

“The life span differences among the races has a lot to do with infant mortality. Once you get beyond that, the differences start to disappear.”

Excellent point. I'm beginning to think that we are being schizoid in this country to give free, first class, virtually unlimited health care to seniors and give nothing to young people, even where it would save lots of babies and lots of money.

First, as to seniors, why should Medicare every possible treatment, virtually regardless of cost? We don't give Social Security recipients the same income as a millionaire—we give them enough to get by. I think we should take the same approach with Medicare. Cover the basics with basic treatment. You want a treatment that costs $10,000 a month for a few years, get your own insurance or pay for it yourself.

Then, with regard to young people, it is amazing that the US ranks below Cuba in infant mortality. I suspect it comes down to lack of access to prenatal care. Let me digress and tell a story.

When I had my own business, living in Austin, Texas, I had a young couple who came to my office. We got to talking and it turned out that the lady was pregnant. It was their first child, and I asked them if they had been to get some doctor's advice on what they should be doing. They said they wanted to, but couldn't afford it. They were nice people and I told them I wanted to help them out. I said I would pay for a doctor's appointment so they could get the required counseling. They were very appreciative. But when I called, every doctor in town (about 350,000 population) who did prenatal care refused to see them unless they signed a contract to have that doctor deliver the baby, and put down a minimum $1000 deposit. This effectively shut poor people out of getting prenatal care. Of course, when the baby is delivered and has problems, they go to the local hospitals who then have to deliver the often very expensive treatment to save the child's life.

So I think we should provide government clinics who dispense free basic prenatal care—authorize say five visits where the expectant parents can learn what they need to do to have a healthy child, and also to spot problems early on where they have a much better chance of being remedied. Fund this by cutting back on the Cadillac treatment of our seniors on Medicare. Actually, it would take but a minuscule amount of what we spend on seniors to fund this.

"Free sex and abortion and the destruction of the family unit is the problem."

Yes, but families used to stay together to survive. Now that your right to lay around and do nothing but have sex without consequence is guaranteed, the outcome is predictable.

Being poor should be something people work to avoid. In the old days (think cave men), everyone was extremely poor by today's standards, but if you didn't work you and your family would starve. Even then, if you had bad luck or whatever god you believed in (and you did believe) didn't protect you, you were dead.

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