Let's try to look past the obvious racial undertones of this campaign slogan. However, there's a little bit of truth in it. Not that the racial majority stands with trump, but that his target demographic is taking this literally. They're silent because they are dying at an alarming rate. Reviewing these facts and statistics are not to celebrate or revel in anyone's plight but to provide context and understanding of the political climate in this 2016 election cycle. There hasn't been this much white angst and outrage since the OJ trial. Gone are the days where the hard working white man with a high school education can flourish. Just as much as the job market is evolving from an industrial and manufacturing market to a service based, technology driven market. The walls of white privilege are crumbling. Now the biggest issue that's hard to understand is the bait and switch within this demographic. To use race, religion and other "values voting" principles to have people vote against their own best interest. We're going to get in to that more later.
Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century
Anne Case1 and Angus Deaton1
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Department of Economics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 Contributed by Angus Deaton, September 17, 2015 (sent for review August 22, 2015; reviewed by David Cutler, Jon Skinner, and David Weir)
This is the study that has received so much attention recently. So much so that it was referenced in the democratic debate in Milwaukee. This study was conducted by the Department of Economics at Princeton University. This study documents a marked increase in the all-cause mortality of middle-aged white non-Hispanic men and women in the United States between 1999 and 2013. This increase can largely be attributed to increasing death rates from drug and alcohol poisoning, suicide, chronic liver disease, and cirrhosis. The change in all-cause mortality for white non-Hispanics 45–54 is largely accounted for by an increasing death rate from external causes, mostly increases in drug and alcohol poisonings and chronic liver disease. In contrast to earlier years, drug overdoses were not concentrated among minorities. In 1999, poisoning mortality for ages 45–54 was 10.2 per 100,000 higher for black non-Hispanics than white non-Hispanics; by 2013, poisoning mortality was 8.4 per 100,000 higher for whites. Death from cirrhosis and chronic liver diseases fell for blacks and rose for whites. After 2006, death rates from alcohol- and drug-induced causes for white non-Hispanics exceeded those for black non-Hispanics; in 2013, rates for whites those for blacks by 19 per 100,000. This is the best summation of the studies findings, there were many parts of the study equally interesting when comparing the stats across racial and education levels. (Please see link below for the entire study) One particular finding that stands out the most were that these numbers were higher in people in with less education.
This is a scientific study reporting just facts and data used to identify trends and causes. The interpretation of this data goes a lil deeper. Something that a scientific study is not going to provide. It's important to use this data in its proper context in relation to the sentiments of the country, and how it's shaping our current political climate. Why does this matter? What is the data telling us? To tell this story we must go back to 2008 during the economic crisis. Where we witnessed the largest shift in economic power in our country's history. People lost everything, homes, jobs, insurance Etc. Pensions were destroyed, 401k's and retirement plans were ransacked. All while banks and the insurance companies, received a tax payer funded bail out. Businesses shut down, mass lay offs, lines of credit frozen. Banks received a bailout with American taxpayer money, added it to their coffers and held it. No lending, no jobs, no growth. People with degrees and impressive resumes couldn't find a job. This affected us all. But why is white America so adversely affected? They weren't victims of predatory lending and systemic racism, preventing job opportunities. They were living in the last days, and the rise of Barack Obama marked the coming of the apocalypse. To most white Americans this was the end of the world as they knew it. What they called "doomsday," blacks called it Tuesday. Nothing changed. It was always difficult to find a job, and easy to find yourself in the magical place of being over qualified and underpaid. No real assets to speak of, with most people's wealth tied up in their homes. So that's gone, your jobs gone. What are you going to do?
Now this is the difference in mentality of those on the outside of the American dream and those who feel it's a natural birth rite. Blacks and other minorities have built support systems and networks to deal with this. Consolidation and retreat within the community to shield against the stress of economic hard times. Family, culture, faith, community. All things that help you cope and deal with stress. These systems exist within the country as a whole to withstand the onslaught from the outside world. Now for white Americans this community is "America" itself. America is supposed to be for you, a safe place where your rights and freedoms will always be protected. As long as you fulfill your end of the bargain and go to work. The person stands alone as an individual within the collective. This is western culture and thinking. There's a reason why that immigrant family has 4 generations living in the same house. Not because they have to, but it's the best play for all. Shared expenses, child care, etc. And it shields the collective if one person so happens to find themselves unemployed and unable to contribute. This sense of community seemed to have worked in the minority community's favor. Not only has the rate of death decreased we continue to lower that number every year as white America slips further into depression and abuse of drugs and alcohol. To white America things have not been improving despite unemployment numbers at record lows. We see so much anger as a whole within this demographic in this state of "conscious ineffectiveness." The problems are deflected outward and the sentiment of "take our country back," grows. Certain groups are demonized that appear to threaten the social hierarchy and their rightful place in the food chain. Especially groups that are growing in influence such as Mexican-Americans (undocumented and legal), African Americans, and Muslims. Historically in America, race has always been used by the powerful elite to influence the poor. To provide a sense of inclusion in the American Dream despite being poor, exploited, and marginalized just like ethnic minorities. This is done out of fear of the bottom 99 percent in this country finding common ground and working together against their collective oppressors. They're the "new niggas," let them tell it, and they don't like that at all. There's plenty of seats left on the struggle bus White America. They're so concerned with still sitting on the front of that bus instead of blowing that bitch up! So they'll continue to align with bigotry and hatred, justified by good ole fashioned misdirected Christianity and the spirit of "American Exceptionalism."
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