# "Americans are dying at alarming rates".  Does it feel that way from where you sit?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-dying-at-alarming-rates-does-it-feel-that-way-from-where-you-sit/844219>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 1, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-dying-at-alarming-rates-does-it-feel-that-way-from-where-you-sit/844219 "2019-12-01T00:06:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-dying-at-alarming-rates-does-it-feel-that-way-from-where-you-sit/844219/61 "2019-12-03T11:51:03Z")

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> [@monstro](#):
>
> So I guess I’m wondering how close to home does this news article hit for you? Have you witnessed an uptick of dead young people in your community? Do you feel like you will likely be another statistic?

Not much. my cohorts (friends, family, colleagues) and I are pretty well-insulated from the mayhem that seems to inflict a lot of people. My job is low-stress and high income, and the people I work with are in similar straits. We live in affluent, low-crime suburbs; if there’s any drug activity going on in my area, I’m utterly unaware of it (though the news does occasionally bring reports of crime/drug activity in other parts of town). For the most part, I and my colleagues and friends and family all seem to be basically healthy, and we all enjoy good health care.

I do have a friend who was recently diagnosed with lymphoma, but his treatment is going well. I wouldn’t consider his case to be representative of any sort of statistical uptick.

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**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-dying-at-alarming-rates-does-it-feel-that-way-from-where-you-sit/844219/62 "2019-12-04T10:30:25Z")

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> [@KarlGauss](#):
>
> Paul Krugman had an interesting piece in the NYT today with respect to the OP.
> 
> [America’s Red State Death Trip](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/life-expectancy-united-states.html) (paywalled or use up a free view)
> 
> So, as Krugman notes in the article, not only do red states have lower GDP and lower mean household income than in blue states, their citizens are less healthy and dying earlier.
> 
> Must be the health benefits of moral relativism and militant secularism.

A very illuminating article, thank you very much.

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**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americans-are-dying-at-alarming-rates-does-it-feel-that-way-from-where-you-sit/844219/63 "2019-12-04T20:26:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> My job is low-stress and high income, and the people I work with are in similar straits.

May I ask what it is you do for a living? I know many people who make a high income but none are in what I would ever call a low stress work environment.

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