Poor whites starting to die off sooner

[BigSkyBob]

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

"Researchers looking for a silver lining point out that the number of Americans without a high school diploma has dropped dramatically since 1990, both shrinking the size of that pool and also making it [the reduced pool of non-graduates] more likely that they will be disadvantaged in other ways."

As more and more effort has been spent on both encouraging and facilitating teens to graduate from school, the reduced pool of remaining non-graduates is increasing skewed towards those whom are irresponsible, and those with drug and alcohol problems. Both tend to catch up with people.

[BigSkyBob]

Judging anecdotally from the people I went to high school with by who went to college subsequently and who did not and comparing their willingness to care of themselves and make responsible decisions at the time, even if money weren't an object at all this wouldn't surprise me in the least.

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.

[BigSkyBob]

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.

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.

[BigSkyBob]

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?

Someone else says something, and you ask me this?

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[Bob], 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.
[/quote]

Again, this is utter crap. If there were such a hierarchy, the folks at the top would order the folks at the bottom to do things like put the Twinkie down and exercise, while, perhaps, ignoring such bad habits amongst themselves.

[BigSkyBob]

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

Cubans have some of the highest standards of living in Latin America.  There's a reason for that.

1) Cuba had about the highest standard of living in Latin America before Castro;
2) The Soviet Union bombed the island with foreign aid;
3) Argentina did worse; and
4) A large number of Cubans fled to the United States resulting in the remaining population having affluent relatives abroad sending remittances, etc.

[BigSkyBob]

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

Cubans have some of the highest standards of living in Latin America.  There's a reason for that.

1) Cuba had about the highest standard of living in Latin America before Castro;
2) The Soviet Union bombed the island with foreign aid;
3) Argentina did worse; and
4) A large number of Cubans fled to the United States resulting in the remaining population having affluent relatives abroad sending remittances, etc.

1) It was a dictatorship, fascism also works quite well in terms of improving standard of living.  I'm certainly no fascist, but that's a fact.  And fascism =/= capitalism, it's "third way."
2) The Soviet Union has been gone for over 20 years.  The standard of living is still far higher.  It's been standing on its own for a generation, and given that, even as a horrible system is clearly superior to what the poor, destitute capitalist Latin American countries have.
3) What do you mean by "Argentina did worse?"
4) I'm going to have to ask you for legitimate sources (as in, news, not sites with an agenda) on how Cuban-Americans impact the standards of living in modern Cuba - I severely highly doubt Cuban-Americans are the reasons it maintains a much higher standard of living.

http://www.cubastandard.com/2010/12/27/remittances-skyrocket-after-u-s-allows-peso-transfers/

Article notes that the estimate is that about half of Cubans receive remittances, and, about a billion/yr is from America alone.