Woolf says there are several proximate causes to consider, like the opioid epidemic, access to firearms, and high-calorie diets. However he stresses that focusing on these issues obscures the larger story of why the United States has been falling behind other developed countries for so long.
“The pervasiveness of the U.S. health disadvantage and the rise in mortality rates across so many causes of death call for consideration of systemic factors,” he writes. These include our broken healthcare system, a sky high poverty rate, and a lax regulatory environment that invites pollution and allows the sale of dangerous products. Woolf adds that our federalist system causes these problems to be exacerbated in certain states, leaving people living in the South, Appalachia, and rural communities at even greater risk of premature death.
“We know how to solve this. Other countries that have outperformed the United States for decades have demonstrated that better health outcomes are possible,” Woolf said in a statement. “What we lack in the United States is not solutions but political will.”
People in the US are dying of preventable diseases, preventable violence, and preventable poverty. The only logical conclusion is that it is done with intention.
I didn’t see why that would be the goal, but I’d like to hear more if you’d be into elaborating.
I think the cost of ending this (i.e. restricting what companies can sell, regulating how they treat their employees and the environment, funding health education and healthcare) interferes with infinite growth, and therefore it makes more sense to keep people ignorant of the systemic harms so that they keep thinking they are the freest nation on earth 🫡
Covid made it clear what the answer is whenever there’s a choice between millions of lives and making sure line go up . The negative consequences are termed “the cost of doing business”.
We saw that one of the primary responses to COVID by the government was “stop testing”, which has been implemented with broad bipartisan support.
If the data doesn’t change the outcome of the decision, then it’s not a tool but a problem
The whole quote they added is worth reading.
People in the US are dying of preventable diseases, preventable violence, and preventable poverty. The only logical conclusion is that it is done with intention.
I didn’t see why that would be the goal, but I’d like to hear more if you’d be into elaborating.
I think the cost of ending this (i.e. restricting what companies can sell, regulating how they treat their employees and the environment, funding health education and healthcare) interferes with infinite growth, and therefore it makes more sense to keep people ignorant of the systemic harms so that they keep thinking they are the freest nation on earth 🫡
The purpose of a system is what it does.
Covid made it clear what the answer is whenever there’s a choice between millions of lives and making sure line go up . The negative consequences are termed “the cost of doing business”.
We saw that one of the primary responses to COVID by the government was “stop testing”, which has been implemented with broad bipartisan support.
If the data doesn’t change the outcome of the decision, then it’s not a tool but a problem