[ExI] Declining Life Expectancies in U.K & U.S

[SR Ballard]

Let's compare the rate of homicide and the rate of suicide in the United
States.



(apologies for the awkward addition of 2015)

1950: 13.2 Suicide, 4.6 Homicide
1960: 12.5, 5.1
1970: 13.1, 7.9
1980: 12.2, 10.2
1990: 12.5, 9.4
2000: 10.4, 5.5
2010: 12.1, 4.8
2015: 13.3, 4.9

We can clearly see that suicide has always outpaced homicide rates. 2015
rates are very similar to 1950's rates. Comparing beginning in 1999 takes a
look at a "short-term" trend in the graph.

Perhaps a better question would be what created this dip? Is it healthy?
Can we do it again?

And what can we do to prevent another crime wave like the one we apparently
had 1970-1990?

https://www.infoplease.com/us/crime/homicide-rate-1950-2014
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.
-2015/tables/table-1
https://www.statista.com/statistics/187465/death-rate-
from-suicide-in-the-us-since-1950/

Now, the suicide rate in the United States would seem to be correlated with
gun ownership/availability. 50% of all suicides in the United States are
accomplished with guns. Therefore, it would make sense that Democratic
states, having stricter gun laws and lower gun ownership, would have lower
suicide rates. So there are perhaps some hidden variables here that are not
directly related to "satisfaction with politicians".

>From the data, we can see that you've always been more likely to kill
yourself than to be killed by someone else.

On Sun, Aug 26, 2018 at 11:38 AM, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> Drug abuse has something to do with it. The rate of drug overdose deaths
> in 2016 was 3 times what it was in 1999 and it's growing fast, the 2016
> rate was 21% higher than the 2015 rate.
>
> And the increase in the number of suicides  certainly has something to do
> with it too, since 1999 the rate has increased in 49 out of 50 states and
> is now the 10th leading cause of death, you're more than twice as likely to
> kill yourself than to get murdered. The 5 states with the highest suicide
> rates are in order, Montana,  Alaska , Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. The 5
> states with the lowest suicide rates are in order, California, Connecticut,
> Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.  Washington DC has a
> lower suicide rate than any state.
>
> It's interesting that the suicide rate in Wyoming is 2.5 times what it is
> in California. If I were still allowed to make political comments I'd say
> the democrats seem to be making people happier than the republicans, but
> I'm not so I won't.
>
>  John K Clark
>
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>
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