That is probably due to fluoridated water for profit, bad fast food such as McDonalds for profit, bad cheap food in the malls for profit, tobacco and alcohol for profit, inefficient healthcare for profit, exhaustion from over working for survival and bad jobs from inefficient education...for profit. Which of course, Americans are suckered into all this bad shit due to the billions of dollars spent on advertising.
But that's not even the main contributor, that's just what's on the surface.
Taking into the account the "health socio-economic gradient" and there's counless sources. Here's 1: http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/node/2708
The results reveal dramatic variation in variations in health according to income and education.
From page 19
The USA is also an interesting case: here, social conditions neither insulate the poor from poor health, nor prevent the rich from translating high income into better health.
In other words, the poorer you are, the poorer your health. So how many poor people are there in America?
http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/
In 2009, 14.3 percent of all persons lived in poverty.
I could go on and talk about the middle class, but I think I've made my point as to why your lives are so shit.
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Here's another interesting point.
Goldman Sachs profits: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8472315.stm
For the whole of 2009, the bank had net profits of $13.39bn, up from $2.32bn in the previous year.
Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor......Goldman Sachs contributions to the Obama campaign were more than four times larger than the $230,095 in donations to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.
........Does anyone else see why I despise your country?
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk
(mental health I don't think is conclusive enough because a lot of it is diagnosing people with ADHD)
I bet everyone hates me talking about violence already
Oh, and here's social mobility, you know, one of the arguments for capitalism.
The data is incomplete, admittedly, however, the website states all it's sources, I just like the graphs.
Inequality is looking like the main cause.
There is a direct correlation between wealth and health.
Dr. Robert Sapolsky blames public health on the stress of poverty. Dr. Gilligan also talks about how violence comes from inequality by interviewing violent people who all claim they aren't respected, or "they're dis'd" as they call it. Richard Wilkinson says the data he has shows the intuition people have in terms of sensing superiority and inferiority...disrepect and being looked down on.
In fact, all 3 of them claim inequality causes these problems.
The idea is poverty causes stress causes health problems.
Originally posted by lord xyz
There is a direct correlation between wealth and health.
Doubtless.
Originally posted by lord xyz
The idea is poverty causes stress causes health problems.
That's probably not the main reason. More money means you can afford safer products, better doctors, more frequent doctor visits.
I imagine the correlation between income equality and general health is simply that countries that ensure income equality are more likely to also get involved in ensuring people can get health care.
Originally posted by lord xyz
There is a direct correlation between wealth and health.
sure... but just to be clear, that isn't what you are showing in your charts
those charts don't refer to individual health, but national averages, and they also don't talk about actual individual wealth.
The correlation you see in those charts is actually that lower wealth inequality in a nation is associated with greater average health in that nation.
I know that sounds subtle, and it is, but it is a very clear distinction. Those charts mean that if you were to randomly select a nation, you might be able to guess its income inequality from certain health measures or vice versa.
It does not say that if you were to randomly select an individual, you would be able to say things about their health given their economic status.
Originally posted by lord xyz
Dr. Robert Sapolsky blames public health on the stress of poverty. Dr. Gilligan also talks about how violence comes from inequality by interviewing violent people who all claim they aren't respected, or "they're dis'd" as they call it. Richard Wilkinson says the data he has shows the intuition people have in terms of sensing superiority and inferiority...disrepect and being looked down on.In fact, all 3 of them claim inequality causes these problems.
inequality or poverty? very different variables. people could be equal in poverty, or unequal in a situation where there is no poverty.
Originally posted by lord xyz
The idea is poverty causes stress causes health problems.
sure, that might be a workable theory. Unfortunately, the data you have presented doesn't provide any evidence for that theory. I'm sure that data is out there, but the charts you provided deal with national health trends and income equality, not individual poverty, stress and health.
This isn't nit picking either...
I'm not using the charts as evidence that poverty and inequality causes stress causes health problems and violence problems. My argument for that is the opinion of the experts.
I'm using the charts to illustrate the correlation: the higher the inequality in the country, the higher the social problems. One is clearly a causer of the other and I believe it's likely inequality causes the problems.
The argument that inequality causes more problems, and the expert opinion of poverty and inequality causing stress, and the socio-economic gradient from the paper which is also agreed upon by Robert Sapolsky that says the poorer you are the worse your health, point to an overall conclusion that the poorer you are, the worse your health, according to the experts this is due to stress.
The charts don't say the poorer you are, the worse your health. Of course.