Poor whites starting to die off sooner

[opebo]

Life expectancy begins to fall precipitously for the white working class.

[opebo]

Their owners are happy, I'm sure.

Yes it is fantastic news for the owners - these poors die practically the moment they cease toils!

[opebo]

As the article clearly states, the comparison is between apples and fruit.

...comparing their willingness to care of themselves and make responsible decisions at the time,

That's right BigSkyBob, victims of capitalism, and as for you, TJ, those aren't 'individual decisions', those are behaviors created by society.

[opebo]

Those are behaviors created by a culture which lacks discipline and willingness to work imparted on its youth, one which tolerates drug usage by flimsy enforcement and a lack of willingness to criticize bad personal behavior, a society that accepts students not showing up, showing up tardy, or not doing their homework by not enforcing these measures with any teeth, the litany of testing where no immediate punishment is implemented for failure, a discipline system where the school's only recourse is to call the child's parent or suspend them and neither is much of a punishment, and a society that uses the reality that people are going to do bad things as an excuse for doing them.

Bob is going to fix society with a sharp ruler crack across the knuckles!  How old are you Bob?

That's how it works in large part. Self-disciplined people are both more likely to stay in school or college, and, maintain good health habits such as exercizing and watching what they eat. What is extending their lives is putting the Twinkee down, not History 101.

TJ, surely you can understand that something like putting a Twinkie down or jogging is not an individual decision, but one dictated by ones position and role in the hierarchy?  This constant appeal to 'individuals' regarding epidemiological phenomena is just silly, like complaining to your lawn about the lack of rain.

[opebo]

I am 23; I grew up in a system much like that of today, except perhaps a bit less chaotic because it was before everything was on a computer (back then computers were only used for specific tasks and cell phones didn't have keyboards let alone the internet).

Also you switched my post and Bob's.

Oops actually I only switched your names, got you guys confused.  To be fair, I am quite old, and grew up in an era with far less social problems - however that was almost entirely due to unionization and the 'New Deal'.   The cause of the 'chaos' you mention isn't the computer machine but precisely the economic liberalism you and your party espouse.

[opebo]

The biggest argument against Obamacare. If we help these people live into old age the Medicare costs will bankrupt the country. Let them die!

That's nice.  Keep in mind that their life spans used to be longer during times when the country was in enormously better economic condition.  In fact what is bankrupting the country is the excessive incomes of the ruling class.

[opebo]

Mitt Romney: It's not my job to worry about how long poor white people live. They refuse to take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Barack Obama: [paraphrasing James Baker] F**k the poor whites! They don't vote for us anyway!

Michelle Obama: Organic community gardens would solve all of this.

Ann Romney: Mitt doesn't disdain poor white people.

B.O. doesn't really gaffe, you know.

[opebo]

That's utter bullsh**t. There are families living in cars whom insist their children graduate from High School, and there was Micheal Jackson living in his multi-million-dollar personal theme park injecting anesthetic to fall asleep.

BSB, you're only proving my point.

[opebo]

This has to do with fatness rather than poverty or whatever. A lack of personal responsibility sounds about right. It's not as if fast food is cheaper than buying a bunch of kale at any grocery store.

There is a lack of personal responsibility because personal responsibility is a fiction.