pop_pop_v2.2.1 wrote:
George Hirsch wrote:I do not see this nation going in a direction that has aggregated the common interest of everyone, not in economic terms.
Not in any terms. American public health data has recorded the first decline in longevity recently. With health care access set to decrease, more declines coming.
I am not sure where the tipping point occurred, but 1980 was a very concrete one for me.
I don't really understand how it is people can vote against their own best interests so consistently. But, they do...
it's not the first decline - it declined in 1993 also. We are currently at something like 1 month shy of the all time record for longevity of Americans. We live several years longer than we did in the 80s. I fail to see this as a massive crisis. We need a longer stream of data to confirm it than just one year.
as for voting against their interest - it's all about humiliation. Humiliation is one of the major drivers of voters. Poor whites feel humiliated, just as do muslim men. Both groups act in ways that seem counter intuitive - muslims blow themselves up/support those who do, and poor white people vote to have their benefits cut.
Both actions bring pride - to muslims they feel they are defending mohammed and their people, whites because they are stopping black and brown people from getting free stuff and wrecking the country.